Used to Breathe Without a Doubt
by moviegeek03
Summary: Blaine's life was starting to spiral out of his control. His parents were never home, his relationship appeared over, & everyone seemed to look at him different. Blaine didn't think it could get any worse. But then he just had to go and hurt himself during rehearsal and end up living under the same roof as the as the one person who should hate him the most—Burt Hummel. Glease AU
1. Chapter 1

Title: Used to Breathe Without a Doubt

Author: moviegeek03

Beta: purplehrdwonder

Characters/Pairings: Kurt/Blaine, Burt/Carole, Sam, Finn

Word Count: ~6400

Ratings/Warnings: Spoilers for The Break Up episode and Glease promos

A/N: Title is from the song "Used To" by Daughtry. This fic was started during the hiatus and is very AU for most of the Glease/Thanksgiving eps.

Summary: Blaine's life was starting to spiral further out of his control. His parents were never home, his relationship appeared over, everyone seemed to look at him different, and nothing about his senior year was going according to plan. Blaine didn't think it could get any worse. But then he just had to go and hurt himself during rehearsal and end up living under the same roof as the one person who should hate him the most—Burt Hummel.

* * *

Chapter 1

The hallway was crowded and loud, just as it normally was during the breaks in between class. Blaine hated it. He dreaded having to fight his way to his locker only to have the slamming of everyone else's lockers send spikes of pain through his consistently aching head. With a sigh, he leaned against the cold metal and wished that he could just go back home and sleep. Or somehow find a way to suddenly be in New York and crawl under the covers with Kurt. But that would mean he'd have to figure out a way to fix things with Kurt first.

It had been over a month since Blaine had made the disastrous trip to New York. In that time, he hadn't heard from Kurt once. Blaine had tried to give him space, but it was just so hard. He had sent flowers, text messages, voice mails, and even a few letters. But he had gotten nothing in return, except the box set of _Gilmore Girls_ he had wanted to give to Kurt. Kurt wasn't ready to talk and he had to respect that, even if it made him feel like a little piece of him was dying each time Kurt rejected a phone call or dismissed a text.

Everyone had planned out senior year back in the summer. They'd known things would become stressful, what with the added pressure of trying to measure up to last year's glee club National crown and impending college applications. But things were starting to become too much.

With a sigh, Blaine started his locker combination and tried to stifle a yawn. He hadn't been able to sleep much; he felt like he hadn't had a proper night's sleep since Kurt had left for New York if he was honest with himself.

As Blaine switched out his books and grabbed his script, his stomach growled rather loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten. He had spent his lunch break in the library working on essays for his college applications instead of sitting down to eat with the rest of the glee club. He didn't really feel up to sitting with them anyway. It was just so awkward.

Everyone was still his friend, but it was obvious that they didn't know how to act around him. For most of his glee friends, who were pretty much his only friends at McKinley, Kurt was their friend first. He could see their disappointment in every look they sent his way. Even the newbies seemed to be uncomfortable with the situation, feeling the tension from the older members. After awhile it just became too much. Spending lunch in the library just made things easier…or so Blaine told himself.

"Dude, you ok?"

Blaine startled and hit his head against his locker. He groaned as the headache he already had intensified. He tried to take a deep breath before blinking up in the direction of the voice. "Sam? What—"

"Dude, are you ok?" he repeated. Sam leaned down to pick up some books Blaine hadn't realized he had dropped. Sam placed them back in the locker before turning his attention toward his friend. "You look exhausted." He moved his hand up to run it over the spot on Blaine's head where he had slammed into the locker. For once, his hair was free of the obscene amount of gel and allowed Sam's fingers to find the bump that was no doubt forming. He'd been too tired to bother with styling his hair like he preferred to do.

"Didn't sleep much last night. It just gave me a headache you know?" He shrugged, trying to act as if it was nothing.

"Didn't sleep?" Sam looked Blaine up and down for a moment, his face a mask of worry. "Blaine, when was the last time you actually slept?"

Blaine bit his lip. "I—"

"And don't lie. It's pretty obvious you haven't slept in a while. I mean, everyone's noticed in glee," Sam sighed.

"No they haven't," Blaine replied, a little harsher than he meant. "Sam, I'm fine. I promise."

"But—"

"I appreciate it Sam, I do. But I'm fine. I just stayed up trying to work on college applications and my research paper for AP Lit. It's not a big deal. I'll get some sleep after rehearsal."

"Are you sure going to rehearsal is a good idea?" Sam asked in concern. "You seriously look worse than Batman after his fight with Bane, dude."

Blaine couldn't help but roll his eyes at _The Dark Knight Rises_ reference as he shut his locker. "I don't have that much to rehearse, just 'Beauty School Dropout.' I think I can manage." Sam gave him a look that clearly showed his disbelief. "I promise! Come on, we better get to the auditorium, Kenickie."

Sam still didn't look convinced, but he dropped the subject for the moment at least. Blaine fisted his eyes as he made his way toward the auditorium. Today was the first day they would be rehearsing on the actual set that had been built. Beiste had enlisted some of the guys from the shop class to help out, and Blaine was more than a little surprised when he walked in to see it all set up on the stage.

The stage, which had been hell to take back from Sue, currently had some high school classroom props spread out in various directions. But there was so much more housed backstage. Neither Blaine nor Sam could get over how much stuff the shop class had put together on such short notice. There were some car parts lying around and a fake drive-in theater screen off to the side. In the other corner sat the "stairway to heaven" that Blaine would have to saunter up and down on later.

After taking everything in, they still had a few minutes before everyone else would start scurrying into the room, so Blaine and Sam sat down in the front row to wait. Normally, Blaine would offer to help move the sets and get everything prepared, but he decided to save his energy for the actual rehearsal. He leaned down in his seat, hoping that no one would notice.

He wasn't that lucky though. Sam squeezed his shoulder after a few minutes to get his attention. "You sure you're ok, Blaine? You seem really, I don't know, spacey."

"Just tired," Blaine replied around another yawn. "I'll be fine. Just need to get through this rehearsal then go sleep for the entire weekend."

"Man, I was hoping you would want to come over this weekend for _Halo_ with the guys. Finn and I were going to try to get everyone to come and pig out on pizzas and stuff."

Blaine momentarily tensed in his seat before trying to appear at ease. "Sorry, but I really should try to get some sleep. Also need to work on some essays and study when I'm actually conscious." He tried to put on a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Oh," Sam sighed. "That sucks. You haven't come to a game day in weeks, dude."

Blaine bit his lip. He knew he hadn't been coming to then. In fact, he'd been avoiding them if he was completely honest. It was just so awkward around the guys half the time. They all were friends with Kurt too and they all knew what he did. Plus, there was no way he was going to the Hummel-Hudson house anytime soon…if ever again.

Instead of voicing his thoughts, Blaine put on the fake smile again and clapped Sam on the shoulder. "Maybe over Thanksgiving break next week. I should have some more free time then."

"Really?" Sam's face lit up like a five year old on Christmas morning. "That would totally awesome! We'd have the whole hang back together then! Mike and Puck should be in and Kurt can—crap!" Sam's eyes widened comically and he clapped a hand over his mouth at the slip up. "I'm so sorry, Blaine."

Sam was too busy stumbling over apologies to notice that Blaine wasn't listening at this point. He hadn't even thought about the fact that Kurt would be coming back to town for Thanksgiving. He'd been too wrapped up in everything else. The idea that he would be in the same town as Kurt with the potential to actually run into him again was both terrifying and exhilarating.

Thankfully, Finn walked in with Ms. Pillsbury and Coach Beiste following along behind him. Blaine hoped that they would offer the distraction he needed, but his thoughts continued to drift back to Kurt as everyone started the rehearsal.

_Of course Kurt would be in town for Thanksgiving!_

Blaine knew the holiday was important to Kurt; he had learned that quickly when they were dating. Kurt loved to get up early to start cooking. He loved the way the delectable smells from the food would waft through the house from the kitchen. He loved sharing it all with his family, which had included Blaine himself just last year. But not this year…

He hadn't considered the fact that he wasn't needed on stage for a good chunk of the play, so once he had done some background vocals on the opening, he was left with his thoughts backstage. His hands shook and his fingers itched to text Kurt about the following week. He barely registered anything else going on around him.

"Blaine?"

He jumped, dropping his phone, as a hand settled on his shoulder. He looked up to see Finn reaching down to hand him his cell. Blaine blushed and mumbled a quick apology.

"It's ok, man" Finn said softly. "You about ready to run through 'Beauty School Dropout?'" He studied Blaine a moment, as if trying to decide if the kid really should get up on the stage.

"Yes, of course!" Blaine quickly responded. He hopped up from his seat, swaying a little, and hurried onto the stage where all the girls were already taking their places. Artie directed most of them into their positions before smiling brightly at Sugar, who was already sitting in the booth waiting on Blaine to walk down the staircase.

"Blaine, go ahead up to the stairs and wait for the music," Artie instructed. Finn may have technically been the director this year, but Artie wasn't relinquishing his power completely. Blaine nodded and slowly made his way up to the stairs. The music started and he launched into the song as best as he could.

He just hoped he wouldn't screw this up too.

~0~

From their place in the front row of the auditorium, the teachers and Finn all watched as Blaine sluggishly moved through his dance steps. There were a couple of times that he looked as if he was about to trip over his feet or bump into Sugar. His voice didn't falter, but his movements were not up to par.

Finn leaned over to the others. "Is it just me or is he dancing worse than I normally do?" he whispered so as not to throw Blaine off on the stage.

The teachers gave Finn a look before turning back to Blaine. While they may not have voiced it like Finn, they were all thinking that Blaine was definitely off his game. Everyone could tell the breakup with Kurt was taking its toll. Blaine just wasn't the Blaine he had been last year during _West Side Story_. He wasn't the vibrant performer that brought tears to Beiste's eyes and made Artie want to jump out of his chair. Instead, Blaine had been overly emotional during his audition and backed out of any leading parts.

Even now it was obvious that his emotions were affecting his performance. They all watched as Sugar prodded him to keep going and finish his song. To most, the performance would have seemed just fine. But for those who had seen him at his best, it was a disaster. They didn't think it could get any worse. Then Blaine started to head back up the stairway…

He did the turn to tell Sugar to "go back to high school" one final time while on the stairs. He took a step backwards, swaying severely as he did so. Before anyone could react, his foot slipped on the edge of the last step. It looked as if Blaine tried to regain his footing, but it was too late.

They all watched with horror, unable to do anything. Blaine's feet went out from under him as he started to fall off the steps. His arms flailed out, looking for something to grab onto to. But there wasn't anything he could do. His face looked a mix of terror and shock. A loud crash and a sickening crunching sound echoed through the auditorium as Blaine's body forcefully crashed onto the stage.

No one on stage moved. The girls stared with their mouths agape, unsure of what to do. Beiste was finally the first to react. She jumped up from her place in the audience and hurried up to Blaine. She slid down beside where Blaine was laying in a heap on the back part of the stage. Emma and Finn seemed dazed until Tina's tear-filled scream broke them out of it.

Blaine appeared unconscious, with his face turned away from them. His chest was moving, indicating that he was breathing at least. But his arm—God his arm looked awful! It was bent at an unnatural angle and blood was starting to pool around it on the stage.

"Oh my!" Emma gasped once they made it up to the stage.

Sam, who had been backstage, appeared at Finn's side, eager to help his friend. He started to move towards Blaine, but immediately stopped when Finn put a hand to his arm. "Think we should stay back, Sam," Finn explained. Artie wheeled over towards them from his place behind the curtain as well. "You too Artie." For the first time that day, Finn was glad none of his old classmates had returned to town yet. Keeping everyone in check was nearly impossible now. "I know you want to help but we should—"

"But I-"

"Oh God!" Tina cried hysterically. "Is…is that part of his bone? Oh God!"

Beiste stood up from her place checking Blaine and turned towards them. "Emma, you should take Tina out of here and call an ambulance. I don't want to move Blaine on my own."

Emma nodded and guided Tina out of the auditorium, their high heels clicking with their quick pace. Finn, Sam, and Artie stayed up on the stage with them, but dismissed a few other students who were still there.

"Finn, I need you to come here," Beiste instructed. "I need to check him a little more but I don't want to move his neck. Come hold him still."

Finn nodded quickly and knelt down next to the fallen student. While Beiste moved down Blaine's body, checking it bit by bit, Finn stayed at his head, trying to rouse him without hurting him any more than he already was. "Come on Blaine," he all but whispered. He ran his shaking hand over Blaine's curls. He tensed when he felt blood on his fingers but relaxed a bit as Blaine stirred under him.

"Blaine? You with me dude?"

"Mmm," Blaine groaned before opening his eyes a bit. "F'nn?" He looked like he was about to sit up but Finn managed to stop him.

Beiste had heard Blaine and moved back to his head, kneeling down next to Finn. "You don't wanna move, kid," she said softly.

Blaine blinked up at her and gasped as the he felt the pain spike through his body.

"Shh," Finn soothed despite his growing panic. "You're gonna be ok, buddy." He looked to the coach for some type of affirmation.

She sent the boys a sad smile as she nodded. "You're gonna be fine Blaine. Just try not to move too much for me, ok?" She waited until Blaine nodded before continuing. "I don't think you've done anything to your back or neck, but don't want to risk it. You did fall from the top of that stairway after all." She rubbed his shoulder. "Just hang in there for us for a few minutes."

"Kay," Blaine breathed out through gritted teeth.

"Come on tough guy," Sam said softly as he slowly approached Blaine's side. "You'll be ok." He rubbed his hands the knuckles of Blaine's uninjured hand.

"Guess now you know how those poor punching bags of yours feel," Finn said in an attempt to make Blaine smile despite everything.

"What?" Blaine huffed. "What are you talking about?" He tried to curl in on himself but Beiste stopped him. "Are you seriously comparing me falling to me hitting a punching bag?"

"Pretty sure I've seen you hit one of your bags with just as much force, man," Sam replied with a grin.

Blaine tried to glare at him but didn't have the desired effect. Instead, he just closed his eyes as the pain spiked through his arm again.

"Hey!" Finn shouted. "Keep those eyes open for me."

"Not sleepin'. Just hurts."

Finn was about to apologize when he heard the sirens from the ambulance. He breathed a sigh of relief and felt his muscle relax ever so slightly. But not completely. He wouldn't be able to fully relax for a while now.

They all winced in sympathy as Blaine cried out as soon as the paramedics touched his obviously broken arm. He looked embarrassed and they all tried to look away. But none of them could. They all wanted to watch Blaine's every move and follow the paramedics' work, even if it was hard to see Blaine gasping for breath as pain seemed to assault ever nerve of his body.

Once Blaine was strapped down to a stretcher, everyone followed him out to the ambulance. Both Finn and Sam make an attempt to follow behind the stretcher and into the ambulance, but were immediately stopped.

"Sorry boys," the paramedic said sympathetically. "We're not supposed to have non-family members ride along. Just follow behind us to the hospital, ok?"

Finn and Sam were both about to fight the EMT on the subject when Beiste stepped over and put her hands on their shoulders to stop them. "Come on, boys. There wouldn't be enough room for you both anyway. You want to make sure they have room to work on Blaine, don't you?"

They ducked their heads and nodded.

The coach squeezed their shoulders affectionately and pushed them towards her car. "I'll give you a ride, that way you can try to call Blaine's parents on the way."

"I don't know their number," Finn sighed as he took the passenger seat.

"Wouldn't matter," Sam huffed, hopping in the back. "Blaine's parents on are some cruise-business trip extravaganza thing…I don't know what it was exactly but I'm pretty sure they are on a boat somewhere in the middle of the ocean. So don't think we can reach them."

"Did he say what cruise line they were using, Sam?" Beiste asked. She weaved in and out of the traffic as carefully as possible in hopes of keeping up with the ambulance.

"Uh, no. He doesn't talk about them much."

"What about Cooper?" Finn suggested.

"Think he's filming…somewhere. I don't really know." Sam tugged at his hair in his frustration. "He hasn't been talking that much lately. I just saw on Cooper's Twitter about the job."

Beiste sighed as she pulled into the hospital parking lot. "We'll figure something out. He's eighteen though right?"

Sam looked as if he was trying to remember for sure but Finn nodded his head. "Kurt celebrated it with him so yeah he is," he explained.

"Good," Beiste muttered, walking into the emergency room. "That's one thing we don't have to worry about at least." She stepped up to the desk to see if Blaine had already been taken back to an exam room. Once the receptionist had told her that she wouldn't be allowed back with her student, Beiste took the boys and found a few seats in the waiting room.

None of them were sure how much time had really passed, but it felt like a lifetime before a doctor stepped out calling for Blaine's family. His scrubs had a little blood - Blaine's blood- speckled here and there.

"I'm Dr. Adkins," he introduced himself. "Now, I normally wouldn't give out patient information to people who aren't family." All three of them shot the doctor a rather nasty glare. "But Blaine informed me that his parents were out of the country and that you should be kept in the know."

"Blaine's awake?" Finn asked, the shock obvious in his tone.

"Well, he was at first. Why don't you take a seat and I'll explain Blaine's injuries?" The doctor waited until they were all seated and ready to listen. "When he fell, Blaine sustained quite a few injuries, some worse than others. He has a minor concussion that we'll have to keep an eye on, but I don't believe that it will cause any complications. We already stitched up the cut on his head as well. He also has some bruised and fractured ribs that should heal just fine on their own."

"He didn't injure his back did he?" Beiste inquired.

"There is quite a bit of bruising, but no, he did not damage his spine or neck. He has bruising and smaller lacerations in various parts of his body where it connected to the stage. But nothing too serious."

"Good," she sighed. She was relieved to know that he hadn't injured his spine, but she knew the worst was still to come.

Dr. Adkins took a seat next to Coach Beiste before continuing. "As you could probably tell, his arm sustained the brunt of the fall."

"Yeah, his bone was sticking out," Sam mumbled with a shudder at the memory.

The doctor nodded. "It is what we call an open fracture. He is currently being prepped for surgery so that we can clean up any possible dirt and bacteria that attached themselves to the bone and set the break."

"He has to have surgery?" Finn squawked.

"I'm afraid so," Dr. Adkins replied. "I'm not going to lie, there are quite a few complications that can arise from a procedure like this. However, our team has dealt with these many times and knows what they are doing."

"Ok," Finn said, sounding like a small child.

"If you'll excuse me," Dr. Adkins stated, "I should get back to him. You can wait for him in the surgical waiting room on the second floor. They already know to keep you up to date on his surgery. But you should try to contact his family."

Before they could ask anything else, the doctor was off behind the swinging doors. Both Sam and Finn were left speechless, not moving from their seats. It took a lot of prodding on Beiste's part to get them moving.

"He's right we should try to get a hold of Blaine's family somehow," she said once they were seated in the surgical waiting room.

"But I don't know—oh my God!" Sam exclaimed. "I can totally tweet Cooper until he calls me!" Sam jumped out of his chair and started walking around to find the best reception for his phone.

Finn on the other hand looked completely lost.

"Finn," Beiste said soothingly, "he's going to be alright."

"But-"

"No buts." She squeezed his arm.

Finn nodded dejectedly. "I don't like that his family's not here. Even if Sam gets in touch with Cooper, he won't make it and I think Blaine should have someone here."

"What about your parents?"

"Mom and Burt?"

"I think they would be the best alternatives for Blaine, don't you agree?"

"Maybe. They always did love him before…"

"I'm sure they still do. You don't stop caring about someone that quickly, even when they make mistakes that big. You should call them."

With a sigh, Finn got up and moved to where there was better reception. Sam stood in the corner, typing away frantically at his phone. Finn pulled out his cell and took a deep breath. He had to do this. Blaine needed someone there.

~0~

"Burt!"

Burt looked up from his place under the hood of a beat up Chevelle to see his wife hurrying towards him. He had decided to come into the shop for a few hours since he didn't have any work for Congress to catch up on that day. Carol was already dressed for work but her hair was disheveled, something she never allowed since Kurt's intervention.

"Hey? Where's the fire?"

Carole stopped in front of the car with her hands on her hip and took a deep breath. "No fire, but I need you to come with me to the hospital?"

Burt's brow furrowed in confusion. "Did something happen to your car, hon? I can drop you off then work-"

"No, Burt, I need you to come with me to the hospital."

Burt put down the tools he had been using on the car and stepped closer to his wife. "What's going on?"

"Finn just called. Something happened during rehearsals today."

"Is he ok?"

"He's fine. But, Blaine got hurt. He fell down some stairs. They seem to think he was just exhausted and got dizzy."

Burt removed his ball cap and rubbed a hand over his head. He hadn't expected her to say her distress had anything to do with his son's ex-boyfriend, who he had been avoiding for weeks now. "How bad is he?"

"Finn didn't really know. Blaine's in surgery right now so—"

"Wait, he's having surgery?" Burt gasped. "Damn, just how high were those stairs?"

"He fell on his arm and the bone broke the skin."

"Jesus!" Burt leaned back against his worktable as he took it all in. He had always thought that he would've wanted to murder any boy who hurt his baby. And he had been tempted to hunt down Blaine after he had learned what had happened. But it was still Blaine, who he'd come to see as a third son over the last couple of years, and he wouldn't wish this on the kid.

"To make it worse his parents are on a cruise and can't be reached. Finn said Sam is trying to get a hold of Cooper but isn't having much luck."

Burt shifted uneasily. He knew Blaine's family was distant, but this was a whole new level. He couldn't imagine leaving Kurt after that breakup if he had still been in Lima. Hell, he'd been tempted to hop on the first flight to New York after Kurt had called. It made him wonder if the Andersons even knew that the boys were broken up.

"Burt?" Carole touched his arm gently.

"Come on, I'll drive."

With that, Burt handed over the shop to a few of his workers and headed out to his truck. He drove as quickly as Carole would allow to the hospital. His knuckles were white where he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly. His mind raced as he sped through a couple of red lights, not really noticing the honks and squealing brakes. He didn't know what to think about Blaine right now, nor did he know what the hell he was going to do once he got to the hospital.

As it turned out, he didn't have much time to really think about how he would react. Once he got upstairs to the waiting room where Beiste, Sam, and Finn were seated, everything just happened. Finn immediately ran over to Carole and wrapped his arms around her. She whispered something in his ear that Burt couldn't hear. Sam was messing with his phone, probably still trying to contact Cooper. Coach Beiste was the only one to approach him.

"Burt," she sighed in relief. "Thank you for coming."

Burt nodded succinctly. "Hate to see the kid alone.

"I know. I didn't know his parents were gone like that."

Burt rubbed at his ball cap. "They tend to do that. But we'll figure something out for him. Is he still in surgery?"

"We don't know," Finn answered instead. "They said they would keep us in the know but the nurses up here won't say anything. Blaine told them in the ER to give out his information and stuff. But—"

"I'll go back and see if I can figure out what's going on," Carole interrupted. "I'm supposed to start my shift anyway. I'll see if I can't get in on Blaine's case."

They all nodded as she walked away to go behind the staff only doors. Burt squeezed Finn's shoulder and took a seat beside Sam. "Any luck getting a hold of Cooper?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "Had to send him like a hundred tweets but finally got him to message me his cell number. Been texting since."

"And? Can he come out?"

"Um…no."

"What do you mean no?" Burt replied a little harsher than he intended.

"He's working on a pilot for some new show that could get picked up. They told him if he leaves they won't hold filming. They'll just replace him. So he said he was going to stay unless Blaine told him otherwise. He hadn't been planning on coming home for Thanksgiving or anything because of filming."

"Damn it," Burt cursed under his breath. He liked Cooper; he really did. But that didn't mean he approved of his decisions when it came to Blaine.

Sam sent him a sad smile. "This really sucks, doesn't it?"

Burt sighed and squeezed Sam's shoulder. "Sure does kid; it sure does."

The small group settled in once again to wait on news. Burt's knee bounced in worry and nervousness. He still didn't know what he would say when he saw Blaine. But he couldn't let the boys know that just yet.

After awhile, Carole finally appeared in front of them once more. They all stood up, hoping she would have some news on Blaine's condition.

"He's out of surgery," she quickly said. "He's still pretty loopy, but he woke up for a few minutes in recovery and was able to talk to me for a bit. The surgeon was able to clean up everything, set the bone, and stitch the wound up. It will take a while to heal completely, but it could have been a lot worse. He'll have to wear a splint and sling until it heals to keep the arm immobile."

"So he'll just have one arm?" Finn asked.

"For now at least, sweetheart," she explained gently. "But it won't be permanent. His arm will heal. It just takes time."

Finn and Sam seemed to sag in relief, but not Burt. He knew it would take a lot of time and effort for Blaine to be back at a hundred percent, and he sure as hell wouldn't be able to do it alone.

"Did you hear me Burt?" Carole asked, touching his arm to get his attention.

"Sorry, hon. What is it?"

"I asked if you wanted to come see him? Sam and Shannon are going to go let everyone know what's going on then Shannon will drop Sam back off at the house. I figured you and Finn would want to go see Blaine for a minute though."

"Of course," Burt answered with no hesitation, because he couldn't let Blaine be alone. He had to figure out something for the kid.

Carole sent him a reassuring smile before leading Finn and him toward Blaine's room. They all stepped into the dimly lit room at once. Burt and Finn stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of Blaine in the bed. He was incredibly pale, making the bruising and cuts stand out all the more. His arm was laid carefully across his stomach, wrapped in thick gauze and bandages. His hair had started to come loose of his gel and curled against the pillow. But the thing that brought Burt the most relief was the sight of Blaine's open eyes, even if they were clouded over from the copious amounts of drugs.

When Blaine's eyes landed on Burt, he started to blink fiercely, as if he couldn't believe Burt was actually standing in his room. "B'rt?" he slurred hoarsely.

"Hey bud," Burt replied, stepping over towards the bed. Carole was already at his side, fixing Blaine a glass of water for his dry throat. Finn hung back by the door, watching everyone.

"You're here?" Blaine continued after sipping some of the cold water. He looked around the room for a moment, no really focusing on anything in particular. "Is K'rt? Did he see? I don't want him to see. I—"

"Shh," Burt soothed. He took a seat next to Blaine on his bed, careful not to jostle the boy's injuries. It wasn't too hard though, considering how small Blaine was compared to the bed. He'd always been slim, but it looked as if he had lost weight since the last time Burt had seen him. He reached over and squeezed Blaine's uninjured hand, avoiding the IVs as best as he could. "Kurt's in New York, Blaine. It's ok. Everything's going to be ok. How do you feel, kid?"

Blaine nodded slowly and attempted to shrug. But it ended up as a wince. The action told Burt everything he needed to know about how Blaine felt.

"We can't get a hold of your parents, sweetie," Carole stated, smoothing Blaine's hair from his face. "We did talk to Cooper. He's filming in California, but he said he could try to come if you wanted him. We—"

"No," Blaine interrupted. "He'll lose his job. It's why he's not home for Thanksgivin'." While Blaine seemed to be coming around a little more, his slurred speech still spoke volumes of how drugged he was.

"And your parents? When will they be back, bud?" Burt asked, hoping that the answer would be better than he was expecting.

Blaine blinked for a moment. "Um…I dunno." Blaine cleared his throat and seemed to be in deep thought. "They're on a cruise. Then dad has a business trip overseas…somewhere. Don't 'member where. Think they'll be gone 'til close to Christmas or something."

"We'll check with Cooper," Carole suggested, once again running her fingers through Blaine's curling hair. "Maybe we can find a number to reach them at."

"Why do I need them here? I can take care of myself!"

Burt had to bite his lip to not smile at the obvious pout Blaine sent them. "We know you can, Blaine," Burt said instead. "But it's going to be a little hard for you to do certain things with only one arm. They won't release you knowing you'd be by yourself."

"Oh," Blaine replied dejectedly. "But, but I don't have anyone else. What am I gonna do? I-I can't—"

"Hey, it's ok," Burt quickly soothed. "It's going to be alright. We'll figure out something. Don't worry about that right now. Ok?" Burt squeezed Blaine's hand.

Blaine returned the gesture weakly and nodded.

"You just worry about getting better," Burt continued. "We'll figure out everything else. You just get some rest, alright?"

"Yes, sir," Blaine answered, his old habits kicking in despite the fact Burt had told him repeatedly to forgo the sir over a year ago.

"You should get some sleep, sweetie," Carole gently suggested. She fiddled with his IVs and a blanket, making sure everything was situated perfectly for him. Before leaving, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Burt's heart broke a little more at the way Blaine unconsciously leaned into the touch.

The small family left the room once Blaine fell back asleep so they could talk without waking him.

"What are we going to do?" It was the first time Finn had spoken since leaving the waiting room.

Burt wearily ran a hand over his face. "I guess I'm going to call Cooper and let him know that we're going to take Blaine in while he recovers."

Carole sagged against the nearby wall. "Good. I was going to suggest that."

"I don't know what else to do," Burt sighed. "I'm not going to let him go home by himself like that. Poor kid doesn't handle pain meds well, does he?"

Finn and Carole shook their heads in unison.

"We'll figure it out. He can stay in Kurt's room so that he can have a real bed and not the couch. We're used to having him around the house. It won't be that hard." Burt hoped it wouldn't at least. He hadn't expected to ever have Blaine staying under his roof as anything but Kurt's boyfriend. But they'd deal with it. There was no way they were turning Blaine away at this point.

"I'm going to call Kurt," Finn spoke.

"Finn," Burt replied, "I really don't know if I can deal with Kurt knowing we're taking Blaine in right now on top of everything else."

"I won't tell him that part of it," Finn promised. "But I think he should know Blaine got hurt at least." Finn looked down at the floor. "I'd want him to call me if it was Rachel."

Burt nodded solemnly. "Go ahead, Finn. Just be careful what you say. I have no idea how Kurt is going to react to Blaine staying with us and I'd rather wait a few days to find out."

Finn nodded and walked off to call his stepbrother. Burt sagged against the wall beside Carole, bumping shoulders with his wife. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"It will be ok."

Burt wasn't sure if she was trying to reassure him or herself, but he agreed nonetheless. "Yeah, we'll figure it out."

"I've got to get back to work," Carole huffed. "I'm on Blaine's floor so I'll keep an eye on him."

"Let me know if something happens, ok?"

"Of course."

Burt sent Carole a smile before she walked off towards the nurses' station. Once she was out of sight, Burt slid down the wall and sat on the cold tiled floor.

"This is going to be one hell of a Thanksgiving…"

A/N: I had planned on this just being a oneshot but then it was starting to become a bit too massive for just a oneshot. Hoping to have the next part up fairly quickly since I'm on break this week! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm absolutely blown away by the response for this. I mean, I posted this before heading out to lunch with friends and came home to 60+ emails related to this baby! You all are amazing and I appreciate all the alerts and reviews 3

I also have to thank my amazing beta purplehrdwonder for helping me with this chapter and for working on it so quickly!

Chapter 2

The hustle and bustle of the city had been a welcome distraction for Kurt the past few weeks. But some days it didn't matter how busy things became or how loud the streets were. His thoughts would somehow find a way to drift back to Blaine and his confession. Today seemed to be one of those days.

With a sigh, Kurt stepped off the elevator and began to dig his keys out of his coat pocket. Work had been rough to say the least. He'd made more little mistakes than he could even count, and it grated on his last nerve. Isabelle hadn't been mad, but she had suggested that he go home early to get some rest. He knew she could tell he was still off his game. He had a sneaking suspicion it was the whole reason she had given him a week off for Thanksgiving so he could go back to Ohio.

He just didn't know if it would feel like home anymore.

Kurt unlocked his door and stepped inside the newly furnished living room. He was about to greet a studying Rachel when his phone began ringing inside his pocket. He pulled it out, frowning a little as he saw Finn's name blink across the screen. They hadn't spoken on the phone much since the disastrous trip. They'd really only texted and emailed to keep in touch.

"Hello?" Kurt said into his phone. Rachel looked up at his confused tone. He mouthed Finn's name to her, trying to ignore the pain flash across her face so he could focus on his stepbrother.

"_Kurt! Hey! Listen, um, are you busy? I didn't catch you at work or something, did I?"_

"No, just got home actually. What's going on?" Kurt could hear some loud and somewhat familiar sounds in the background. He just couldn't quite place what they were. "Where are you? It sounds loud."

"_Oh! Sorry dude! I'm at the hospital and can't find somewhere quiet. Sorry. I can—"_

"Hospital?" Kurt snapped, making Rachel jump from her place on the couch and turn back to where Kurt was now starting to pace. "Finn, what's going on? Is Dad…did Dad have another heart—"

"_No! Dude, no! Damn, sorry! I can't get this out right; I'm so sorry! Burt and Mom are perfectly fine."_

"Are you?"

"_Other than making you freak out, yes. I'm good too."_

"Ok...so why are you at the hospital, ?" Kurt ran a hand through his hair, not caring that he was surely messing it up.

"_Well, you remember how I said I was co-directing _Grease_?"_

"Yeah…"

"_Rehearsals didn't go so well today."_

"Finn, for the love of all things fashionably holy, what happened?"

"_Blaine fell off some steps while rehearsing 'Beauty School Dropout' and had to have surgery." _

Kurt sat there for a moment in shock, not sure what to say. Blaine was in the hospital. His Blaine who hated hospitals. Who had been in them way too much for Kurt's liking given the Sadie Hawkins disaster and the slushie incident. His Blaine who seemed to look too small in the oversized beds was lying unconscious and broken in a hospital.

"_Shit! Kurt? Are you there? I didn't mean to blurt that out like that! It's just been a long day. Please say you're still there!" _

"I-I'm here," Kurt finally answered, trying to calm his erratic breathing. "Is-Is he ok? I mean, he's in the hospital so that's probably a stupid question but—"

"_He's going to be fine. I mean, he's in pretty rough shape but the doctors said he'd be fine."_

"Why'd he have surgery then?"

"_He fell on his arm and messed it up. Like, the bone was sticking out and everything. Was pretty gruesome, man."_

Kurt shuddered and finally sank down onto the couch next to Rachel. He felt her take his shaking hand in her own, but he didn't say anything. "But he'll be ok?"

"_Yeah, they cleaned him up and set the bone. He's just really doped up right now, but he was awake earlier at least."_

"Good, that's good." Kurt bit his lip for a moment. "I-I am glad you called me, but why? Why call me to tell me this? Did Blaine ask? I just—"

"_He didn't ask. I just…if it was Rachel I knew I'd want you to call me."_

Kurt nodded, even though he knew Finn wouldn't see. He could understand that. "Thank you. C-Can you maybe keep me updated on him? Just, a text or something?"

"_Yeah, dude, I can do that. Do you want me to have Blaine call you?"_

"No," Kurt quickly answered. "I can't…I don't want to…Finn?"

"_Hey calm down! I won't have him call. I just wanted to double check. I'll text you; I promise."_

"Thank you," Kurt sighed.

"_Be careful, little brother. I'll see you soon!"_

"Thanks again," Kurt replied, not even bothering to correct the little brother comment. Instead, he hung up the call and let his head fall against the back of the couch. He felt tears sting at the back of his eyes, and he mentally cursed his emotions. He shouldn't care. He knew that. But for some reason, he just did. He couldn't get the image of a battered and bloody Blaine out of his mind and it was killing him.

He could feel Rachel's gaze on him and knew she was getting anxious by the way she continued to grip his hand. With a sigh, he sat back up to face her.

"So, what was all that about?" Rachel gently asked. She bit her lip and shifting nervously. "Did something happen to Finn?"

"Finn's fine." Kurt ran a hand over his face tiredly.

"Then what's wrong? I wasn't trying to listen but…"

"We live in an open apartment that echoes and it's impossible not to listen?"

"Yeah," she replied with a soft smile "So what happened?"

Kurt looked down at his hands in his lap. "Blaine's in the hospital," he muttered.

"What?" Rachel gasped. "Oh my God! What happened? Is he ok? Was anyone else hurt?"

"Slow down, Rach," Kurt huffed. "Finn didn't say anyone else was hurt so I'm guessing just Blaine. He was rehearsing for _Grease_ and he fell down steps. He broke his arm pretty bad and had to have surgery." He felt his throat constrict as images of Blaine laying in a boneless heap on the stage assaulted his mind.

"Fell down steps?" Rachel's brow knit in confusion. "I don't remember Danny Zuko ever being on steps for the play. Are you sure he didn't fall from the car or something in 'Greased Lightning'?"

Kurt shook his head. "Finn told me last week that Blaine isn't Zuko. He's Teen Angel so he has those steps he has to use at the beginning and end of his scene."

"Wait…Blaine isn't Danny?" Rachel's eyes were wide and her mouth hung agape in her shock. "Did they get some amazing new kids that are better? I mean, I know they can't compare to last year's performance of _West Side Story _but I—"

"No," Kurt interrupted. "Finn said Blaine didn't want the lead. I don't really know, Rachel." Kurt ran a hand through his hair. "I was just as surprised as you."

"Wow," Rachel mumbled. "Blaine turned down the lead? That doesn't sound like something he'd do."

"Yeah well, Blaine seems to be doing a lot of things that aren't like him," Kurt snapped. He jolted up from the couch and headed to the kitchen to make himself a strong cup of coffee as a distraction. Unfortunately Rachel followed.

She reached around him and took the cup from his hands. Before he could protest she pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear.

"I know." He sagged into the hug. "Me too." He squeezed her shoulder and broke the hug. "I just…I don't know what to think." Rachel rubbed his arm as he took a deep breath to compose himself. "Why do I still care?"

"Because it's Blaine."

"But he—"

"I know. But he's still Blaine."

And wasn't that just the problem? It was still Blaine. _His Blaine_. Blaine, who had been his everything for years and who had shattered it all in one night. The same Blaine who was apparently now laying in a hospital in Ohio.

Rachel leaned up and kissed Kurt on the cheek. "Hey, why don't you come out to dinner with me and Brody? I'm supposed to meet him in a few minutes anyway. It would be fun."

Kurt inwardly groaned at the idea of feeling like a third wheel once again. "No thanks, Rach. Think I'm just going to change and hang out here. Don't feel like going out."

"Are you sure? I can always stay and order in or—"

"Go out and have fun." Kurt gently pushed her towards her closet and pulled out an outfit for her. "You look too fabulous to be hiding out indoors anyway."

"And you don't?" Rachel giggled.

Her tone seemed almost forced, but Kurt tried to plaster on a fake smile. He didn't feel fabulous…he hadn't for a while now. Not since that night in Battery Park. Rachel didn't seem to notice though. So he continued to fuss over her outfit and makeup before she finally left to go meet Brody for dinner.

Once the door was safely closed and locked behind her, Kurt made a beeline for his section of the apartment. He changed into some comfortable sweats and pulled out his laptop. He settled onto his bed and logged into Facebook, immediately regretting it when most of his timeline was covered with posts about Blaine and get-well wishes from the gleeks. He knew he needed to de-friend Blaine, but he hadn't been able to. Not yet.

With a sigh, he closed his laptop and tossed it across his bed. He pulled the covers up to his shoulders and burrowed into his fluffy pillows. It took all his strength not to reach over and dig out the framed picture of Blaine that was hidden away in the drawer of his nightstand. Hearing about Blaine from Finn was bringing up a lot of feelings Kurt didn't want to think about tonight…or any night for that matter.

Kurt checked his phone one last time to see if Finn had sent him any more messages. There was one new text from his step brother, saying that Carole had checked on Blaine and that he was sleeping peacefully for now. Kurt breathed a sight of relief that turned into a groan.

He didn't want to be happy that Blaine was alright. He didn't. But he couldn't _not_ be happy that Blaine was ok.

Kurt tossed his phone over onto the nightstand, his fingers itching to send a get-well text to Blaine. He rolled away and closed his eyes, focusing on the fact that he would be home with his family in a week and could hopefully find a way to avoid Blaine while there. Because he didn't know what he would do if he saw the boy any time soon. He really didn't.

~0~

Burt's foot tapped anxiously as he waited on the elevator to reach Blaine's floor. Kurt came by his hatred for hospitals honestly. Burt couldn't stand being in them. He rarely visited Carole at work, opting to pick her up and take her to dinner or meet at a restaurant during her lunch. Being inside hospitals just brought back too many painful memories.

But he had to do this today. Carole had texted him earlier, saying that Blaine was much more coherent now that his medication had been stepped down from the strong morphine and that he was adamant that he didn't need to stay with them.

Burt sighed in relief as the elevator finally pinged and the doors opened. He sent a few smiles and waves to Carole's coworkers on his way to Blaine room. Once at the door, he paused as he heard Carole saying something to Blaine. He decided to listen for a moment before going in.

"Blaine," he heard her say, "you are not going home to an empty house when you just had surgery yesterday! End of discussion! We'll be happy to have you."

Blaine started to argue back. Burt couldn't make out his side of the conversation as easily, but the word "burden" seemed to be coming up quite a bit. With another sigh, Burt pushed the door open and shuffled into Blaine's room.

Blaine immediately stopped talking when he noticed Burt; the poor kid looked shocked to see him there. Burt used the time to take stock of Blaine; he was still very pale and his bruises had turned a deep shade of purple. But his eyes looked much clearer than they had yesterday.

"Mr. Hummel?" Blaine sputtered. He tried to sit up in bed but ended up falling back against the pillows with a pained look. "Wh-What are you doing here? I mean, not that I don't appreciate it, but—"

"Take a breath and relax before you hurt yourself," Burt chuckled, hoping to calm the boy. He stepped toward the bed and pulled a chair up next to Blaine. "How ya feelin' kiddo?"

Blaine still seemed in shock at it all with the way he blinked over at Burt and looked to Carole. "I'm fine, Mr. Hummel. Thank you for asking, sir."

"Mr. Hummel? Sir? Kid, I thought we were past the formal names over a year ago?"

Blaine bit his lip. "I just thought…given everything I did…"

Burt nodded sadly and leaned forward, taking Blaine's good hand in his. "Listen, whatever happened is between you and Kurt. Am I thrilled about what you did? Of course not!" Blaine flinched and looked as if he wanted to pull away. "But, that doesn't change the fact that I care about you."

"But I—"

"Blaine, right now I'm more worried about how you feel than what you did. And I know that you're lying through your teeth when you say that you're feeling ok. You look like crap and I'd say you don't definitely feel any better. Am I right?"

Blaine sighed and closed his eyes. "Yes, sir."

"That's better, but stop with the sirs, Blaine. You don't have to go back to that. I'm still just Burt." He waited for Blaine to nod before continuing. "Now what's this I hear about you not wanting to stay with us?"

"I will be fine at my house, si—Burt."

"Are your parents coming home early?"

"Well…no." Blaine looked down at his lap, flexing the fingers of his injured arm slightly. He licked his dry lips and tried to shift up higher on the pillows. He ended up grimacing as the motion pulled on his sore body. "But I'll be fine. I can take care of myself. I've done it plenty of times. And our maid comes by a couple of times a week. I can always have her help me with some things while she's there." He didn't return Burt's gaze until after he had finished speaking, and even then it looked like he would rather be anywhere else.

"Blaine, sweetie," Carole spoke up, "you're going to need more help than just once or twice a week. You're only going to have use of one arm and will need someone to help you keep your medications straight." She shook her head." I don't think you're going to be able to handle everything right now."

Blaine looked back down at his hands dejectedly. "I don't want to be a bother," he muttered.

It broke Burt's heart and, not for the first time, made him want to hunt down the Andersons for making Blaine feel like he couldn't ask for help from someone.

"Listen to me," Burt said sternly but affectionately, "you will never be a bother. Got it?" Blaine nodded, but Burt got the feeling the kid didn't truly believe it. Blaine still wouldn't make eye contact with him. "And we're bringing you home with us when you get released."

"Ok," Blaine sighed in defeat. He sagged back against the pillows, clearly exhausted from putting up a fight and pretending he was fine.

"Now, Finn and I are going to your house today to pick up some things for you. Clothes, books, your laptop, whatever you want. I just need a way in," Burt explained.

Blaine massaged his forehead with his uninjured hand. "My keys are in the drawer." He paused to point at the bedside table before rubbing at his temples once more.

"Burt and Finn will take care of everything," Carole assured. "And I am going to go talk to your doctor about upping your pain medicines a little again. You shouldn't be in this much pain." She grabbed his hands from where it was rubbing near his stitches and smoothed his hair away from the bandage. "Why don't you get some sleep in the meantime?"

Blaine looked like he wanted to argue once more but withered at the stern looks both Burt and Carole sent him. Instead, he snuggled down into the uncomfortably thin mattress, allowing his exhaustion to win out over his stubbornness.

Carole fussed over him a little more while Burt found Blaine's keys in the drawer. Once he found them, he leaned over to give Carole a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to pick up Finn and head over to Blaine's. You think I'm good with some clothes, his laptop, and a few books?"

"I'd say so," she whispered. "We should have everything else that he needs at the house. Sam said he would grab Blaine's bag today. Emma locked it up in her office after he was taken to the hospital so that no one would take anything. It should have his phone and wallet."

"Ok, if you think of anything else just call me."

"Will do, babe."

Burt sent Blaine, who was thankfully asleep, one last look before leaving and picking Finn up from McKinley. The two of them headed towards Blaine's house in silence. Burt had been there before, but this trip felt different. It didn't feel right going there when Blaine wasn't home, but they didn't have a choice.

"I forgot how huge this place is," Finn gaped as they pulled into the long driveway leading to the modern Colonial styled house. The yard immaculately kept with the neatly cut grass and vast amount of landscaping, as was the interior of the house once they entered. Kurt had talked Burt's ear off about the decorating after his first time at the Anderson's. There were too many expensive paintings and not enough happy family photos along the walls. Burt couldn't imagine trying to kick back on the antique looking furniture to watch a football game.

While Burt knew the place looked great, it just didn't feel like a home. With the way Blaine never seemed to want to leave their house, Burt kind of thought Blaine felt the same.

"I couldn't live here by myself," Finn said suddenly, looking around at all the glass and heavy wood furniture. "Pretty sure I'd break something. Not sure how Blaine does it."

Burt wanted to smile at Finn's comment on his clumsiness, but he just couldn't bring himself to. "Me neither, bud. Why don't we just grab Blaine's things and go home?"

Finn nodded and started off towards the stairs. Both men couldn't help but gasp at the state of Blaine's room. From the times Burt and Finn had visited Blaine when he had his surgery, it was always as clean and organized as the rest of the house, just with more touches of Blaine. But today, it was an absolute wreck and did not feel like Blaine at all.

There were oversized t-shirts and sweatshirts all over the floor. In the few years that Burt had known Blaine, he'd never seen the kid wear anything like them before. There were also socks and random, mismatched pairs of shoes tossed all around by their feet. Blaine's desk overflowed with textbooks and sheet music, so much so that it had started to spill over onto the carpet. His keyboard had just as much sheet music amassed on top of it. There were mugs piled up from what Burt assumed were way too many cups of late night coffee.

On the other side of the room, Blaine's unmade bed and the nightstand looked just as cluttered as the desk. There were a couple of pairs of jeans lying haphazardly at the foot of the bed. At the head by the pillows lay a few pictures of Kurt as well as a stuffed dog. There were a couple more pictures on the nightstand, along with a stack of ACT and SAT prep books and college applications.

Burt stepped towards the bed and picked up a few of the applications. He smiled as he noticed they were for schools in New York. But the smile quickly faded when he started to see just how many pictures Blaine had of Kurt out.

_Just how hurt was the kid?_

"I can't believe he kept it," Finn said, drawing Burt out of his thoughts.

Burt looked up to see Finn holding the dog on the other side of the bed. "What is it?" Burt asked, setting the papers and pictures back where he had found them.

"Kurt stole this from me when we went to Six Flags. It was when Cooper was in town and Blaine didn't feel like going with us. So Kurt stole the smallest thing he could from the pile of stuffed animals Rachel had me win for her." Finn held up the dog and shook it. "He gave it to Blaine to make him feel better or something." Finn shrugged and put it back on the bed.

Burt's heart broke a little more. It was fairly obvious that Blaine had been sleeping, or at least trying to sleep, with the dog. In fact, it looked like the only way Blaine had tried to sleep was with everything that reminded him of Kurt piled up around him.

"Look in Blaine's closet for a duffel bag or suitcase so we can start packing for him, Finn," Burt ordered, wanting to get out of the Anderson house as quickly as possible. Being in there was just making it all the more clear that Blaine needed someone right now.

Once Finn found a large Dalton duffel, the two quickly found what appeared to be clean pajamas and underwear for Blaine. They managed to find some comfortable clothes that still looked like something Blaine would wear out just in case he needed to. Finn dug Blaine's laptop bag out as well and packed it up for the boy while Burt looked for some books he remembered Blaine enjoying to read.

"Is there anything else we need?" Finn asked, standing in the doorway with the duffel bag and laptop.

"I think that's everything." Burt replied, glancing around the cluttered room once more. "Go ahead down to the truck. I'll double check and lock up."

As soon as Finn was out of the room, Burt turned back to the bed and picked up the dog. He rubbed a finger over its fuzzy ear before tucking it inside his coat. With that he headed off to get the house ready for its newest guest.

~0~

Blaine was discharged the next day with copious amounts of antibiotics and pain meds. He spent most of the car ride home asleep in the backseat. The doctors had given him a strong dose of painkillers before he had left the hospital, knowing that the ride to Burt and Carole's house would no doubt jostle his arm painfully.

Burt pulled into the driveway as easily as possible and cut the engine. Carole slid out from the passenger seat and went to gently wake Blaine. Burt climbed out behind her so that he could unlock the door; he then went back to help Blaine out of the car.

"Sweetie?" Carole prodded. "You think you can make it inside?"

Blaine blinked fiercely, as if trying to concentrate hard on what Carole was telling him. Burt couldn't get over how young he looked just then. His hair was a mess of unruly curls and he looked especially small in the roomy sweats.

"Blaine? Can you walk by yourself bud?" Burt asked. "I don't think I can carry you. And Finn and Sam are still at the school right now. You think you can make it to the door if we walk beside you?"

"Mmm," Blaine groaned as he nodded.

Burt wasn't too sure he believed the kid, but he let Blaine scoot to the edge of the seat on his own and helped steady him when he stepped out of the car. Blaine swayed terribly and probably would have fallen if Burt and Carole hadn't been right there anticipating it.

"Easy," Burt soothed, hating the way Blaine whimpered as his arm was jostled. "Let us help ya, ok?"

Burt and Carole didn't wait for Blaine to acknowledge them. They just started shuffling towards the front porch, keeping him in between them and moving extremely slowly. It wasn't the easiest thing they'd ever done, but they managed to make it inside the house without another incident. The steps up to Kurt's room were just as rough, and Burt had to tighten his grip on Blaine more than once to steady the groggy boy.

Burt was relieved when they reached the second floor and made it down the hall to Kurt's room. Carole stepped in ahead of them to turn down the fresh sheets and make last minute adjustments for Blaine. Once he was sure his wife was finished, Burt started to push Blaine towards the room.

But Blaine didn't budge.

"Blaine?" Burt muttered. "Come on. You can go back to bed. Just come-"

"No," Blaine stated with wide eyes and a panicked face, surprising Burt. Blaine had barely spoken since leaving the hospital.

"Blaine?" Burt gently tugged on Blaine's good arm, but Blaine shrugged out of reach and started backing away until he collided with the wall across from Kurt's door.

"Th-That's K-Kurt's room. I can't….I just can't stay there. No." He shook his head fiercely.

"What's going on?" Carole asked, stepping back into the hall, glancing between Burt and Blaine.

Blaine kept shaking his head. "I can't take K-Kurt's room. I don't want to take his space. He wouldn't want—"

"Blaine," Burt said softly, "Kurt would want you to be comfortable and not hurting."

"Can't I stay in the guest r-room?" Blaine's eyes shined with unshed tears and his breathing sounded ragged and panicked.

"I'm sorry, bud," Burt replied. "We converted the guest room to an office so I can work from home some when I'm not in D.C."

"Wh-what about Finn's room? I can sleep on the fl-floor!"

Burt hated the way Blaine shrank into himself and started to tremble. "Sam's already on the floor in there. I have no idea how he manages with as much crap as Finn has all over the place, so there is no way we could fit someone else in there."

"Then I'll take the couch!" Blaine pleaded. "Please don't make me stay in there. Please, Mr. Hummel. I just…please."

Burt sighed and stepped towards Blaine. He reached up and put a hand on the boy's shaking shoulder, frowning when Blaine tensed at the touch. "Blaine, take a breath, kid." Burt pulled Blaine away from the wall and toward his chest. Blaine allowed the hug, but didn't embrace it the way he used to. He remained stiff and unsure in Burt's arms.

"Please," he muttered one last time into Burt's shirt.

"No," Burt replied, not unkindly. "You can't sleep on the couch."

"But—"

"It's too small. You could roll off in your sleep way too easily. And what are you going to do if you land on your arm? You'd end right back up in the hospital probably looking at another surgery. So, no. I'm sorry, Blaine." Burt let Blaine pull away from the hug but kept his hand on Blaine's back, rubbing it gently. He sent the boy a sad smile.

Blaine sniffled but didn't say anything. He did however allow Burt and Carole to pull him into Kurt's room at last. He remained stiff and uneasy as Carole helped remove his shoes and thick sweatshirt. He did let Carole and Burt help him lay down under the covers so that he wouldn't hurt himself.

"If you need anything just yell, sweetheart," she said with a reassuring smile

Blaine nodded, already half asleep yet somehow still tense, his emotions having drained what little energy he had had. Burt hated it—hated that Blaine couldn't relax in the one place he used to feel so comfortable. With a sigh, Burt walked over to the duffel bag and dug around until he found the stuffed dog. Without a word, he placed it near Blaine's hand.

Before stepping out into the hallway, Burt sent Blaine one final glance, smiling at the way the kid had already pulled the dog against his chest and snuggled into Kurt's old pillows. Burt just hoped things would go smoothly for the night.

And for the most part, it did. Sam and Finn came home a few hours later, bringing a batch of get-well cards and even a tub of cookies courtesy of Tina for Blaine. Finn tried to stay out of the way, still not sure of what to say to Blaine. But Sam went straight up to see Blaine and stayed there while he was awake for a part of the afternoon, watching movies, keeping him company, and even getting him to eat a few bites of food at dinner. Burt was never more grateful that they had taken in Sam last year.

But now he really wished that someone else in the house would be awake to help him figure out what the hell that noise was.

He had woken up from a restless sleep to something echoing through the second floor. Carole hadn't budged, too tired from her early shift and helping Blaine. Burt huffed to himself and pushed himself out of bed. He made his way toward Finn and Sam's room, ready to lecture them on late night gaming sessions like he had done so many times over the past year. But he opened the door to see both of them sound asleep. He heard the noise again, only it was louder.

"Boys can sleep through a damn earthquake," he yawned to himself. He tried to listen closely and finally found the source of the noise—Blaine's room.

Burt poked the door open and stuck his head inside. "Shit," he cursed under his breath as he caught sight of Blaine. The boy was curled up in a tight ball, whimpering and crying into a pillow. He was shaking so badly that most of the blankets had been pushed off of his body. Even though it looked like he was trying to be quiet, he wasn't succeeding. He sounded more pained by the moment.

"Blaine?" Burt gently called as he walked into the room. He hurried over to the bed and ran a hand up and down Blaine's trembling back. The kid mumbled something into the pillow and groaned again. "Buddy? What's wrong?"

"H-Hurts," Blaine repeated a little louder. He shifted so that the pillow no longer hid his face. There were tear tracks running down his pale cheeks from his reddened eyes. He looked like a mess.

"Blaine, when was the last time you took your pain pills?"

Blaine sniffled into the pillow. "Dunno…before dinner?"

Burt inwardly groaned. That had been hours ago, way past the time for a new dose. "Why didn't you yell? We told you to if you needed anything."

Blaine closed his eyes. "Didn't wanna bother you."

"Blaine—"

"I'm always a bother," Blaine slurred. "I hate it. I don't wanna be a bother. Makes people leave."

"Blaine, buddy, stop," Burt chastised softly.

"Everyone…my parents…Kurt! If I were different…if I wasn't a nu-nuisance they wouldn't leave. Didn't wanna bother you."

Burt felt a few tears of his own slip down his cheek. "Shhh. You are not a bother, Blaine. You are allowed to ask for help, especially right now." Burt carded his fingers through Blaine's curls, trying to comfort him. "Don't ever feel like you can't come to us."

Blaine didn't respond, just curled up tighter against the pain. Burt squeezed his uninjured shoulder and went to go find Blaine's meds. He found them in the bathroom across the hall. He filled a throwaway cup with water and grabbed a few pills, opting for the maximum dosage. He returned to the bedroom and quickly gave Blaine the medicine.

Instead of going straight back to his bedroom, Burt stayed with Blaine for a few minutes, making sure the boy relaxed and fell asleep. He ended up staying long after Blaine had passed out, just watching the way he was still tense even in sleep.

Burt made a promise then that he would get to the bottom of this. He wouldn't allow Blaine to continue to feel like this. Not if he could help it.

~0~

Blaine stirred with a groan as the sun streamed through the curtains. He tried to roll over, but jarred his arm in the process and woke himself up even more. He lifted his head off the pillow and looked around the room in confusion, momentarily forgetting where he was. It took a few minutes before he remembered—Kurt's bedroom.

It looked very different from the last time he had been in there, when Kurt was still living at home and the shelves were filled with Kurt's favorite books and photos. Now, the room felt empty without his mother's old mirror and vanity that Kurt loved so much and the old knick-knacks he secretly adored.

It didn't feel like Kurt and Blaine didn't feel like he should be there.

With another groan, Blaine gently leaned towards the nightstand in search of his cell. It took far too much effort to reach the phone, and Blaine felt like throwing it across the room when he realized the battery was dead and all that effort was for nothing. He had no idea where is charger even was.

He felt like he just couldn't get anything right.

Blaine was sorely tempted to go back to sleep and forget it all when the bedroom door opened, revealing Burt and a tray of sweet smelling pancakes.

"Good," Burt greeted. "You're awake." He stepped into the room and placed the tray on the nightstand. "How do you feel?"

"Ok," Blaine said, despite the fact that his arm was throbbing and his ribs were aching.

"Liar," Burt sighed, picking up the bottle of pain pills and shaking them in Blaine's direction. "You can have some of these after you eat."

Blaine eyed the food warily. "Not really hungry, sir."

"Tough…you have to eat in order to have the medicine, kiddo. So," Burt pointed towards the tray of syrupy pancakes and bacon, "you're going to eat."

"But sir—"

"What did I say about the sirs, Blaine?"

Blaine huffed and stared down at his lap. _Just can't get anything right. _"Sorry."

"Hey," Burt said softly, sitting down on the bed, "none of that." Blaine continued to avoid Burt's gaze until he felt Burt's rough hands gently push his chin up, making him meet the older man's eyes. "Listen to me, you don't have to be sorry for anything."

Blaine couldn't help but scoff loudly, because he sure as hell felt like he had hundreds of things to be sorry for right now. Not going to Kurt when he was unhappy, going to Eli's house that night, getting the words all wrong when talking to Kurt…the list when on and on.

"Blaine? Did you hear me?" Burt asked.

"No, sorry si—I mean Burt."

"Blaine, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Blaine replied. "I'm fine." He knew he didn't sound very convincing, but he desperately hoped Burt wouldn't notice.

"No offense, kid, but I'm pretty sure you're anything but fine."

Blaine bit his lip, steeling himself for whatever Burt was going to do. He knew he deserved whatever Burt would deal out to him. He'd screwed up; he'd hurt Burt's baby. He knew there was no going back from that with this man.

"Now, I want you to tell me what is wrong," Burt gently prodded. "I know there's something up. Hell, I should've known when Kurt told me you cheated." Blaine couldn't help but flinch. "You want to explain what's going on?"

"I-I just screwed up," Blaine replied, still avoiding Burt's eyes. "It was stupid and I don't know why I did it."

"I think you have it half right," Burt continued, still keeping his voice gentle. "It was a stupid move but I think you have an idea of why you did it, bud."

Blaine shook his head vehemently. "I don't."

"Blaine I—"

"I just don't!" Blaine snapped. His eyes widened when he realized he had just yelled at Burt. "Oh God, I'm sorry, Mr. Hummel. I—"

"Take a breath," Burt ordered.

Blaine obeyed obediently. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

"Probably not, but something tells me you needed to."

"But I—"

"Have you talked to anyone about the breakup or what happened?"

Blaine shook his head and looked toward the window.

"Ok, then talk," Burt softly said. "Talk to me. Stop bottling things up until you burst! Or until you get so loopy from pain or medicine."

"Oh God," Blaine groaned.

"I take it you don't remember much of our late night talk do you?" Burt slowly questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I really wish I did," Blaine huffed. "What did I say?"

"Not a whole lot really," Burt sighed. "Mainly how you thought you were a burden to everyone and that it made people, mainly your parents and Kurt, leave."

Blaine felt his face flare with red in embarassment and his eyes widen. _Oh God…this wasn't happening!_

"You want to tell me what that was about? Because I think you really need to."

Blaine's throat constricted and his mouth ran dry. "I-I didn't mean that. It didn't mean anything."

"I think it did." Burt reached over and squeezed Blaine's shoulder. "And I think you need to tell me what it meant."

"Nothing…"

Burt sighed and ran a hand over his face. "How long have your parents really been gone?"

"Wh-What?"

"Look, your house looked like no one had been living in any room but yours in a long time. So, how long have they been gone?"

"I don't know." Blaine licked his cracked lips. "Since school started maybe."

"So around the same time Kurt left for New York?"

Blaine shifted uncomfortable, not wanting to talk about it. "Something like that. But it isn't a big deal. I'm eighteen. I'm fine."

"So fine that you went to a some guy's house that you met on Facebook? Because I have to tell you, that sure as hell doesn't sound fine, kid."

"How? How did you find out about that?"

"Kurt," Burt quickly answered. "My son tends to tell me everything when he's upset."

Blaine flinched once again and drew his knees up towards his chest, not caring that it hurt his ribs to do so.

"Relax before you hurt yourself." Burt patted Blaine's leg until he let them fall back onto the mattress. "And please tell me what you were thinking when you went to some strange guy's house."

"He wasn't a stranger!" Blaine defended. "We'd talked on Facebook a few times."

"And everyone is always completely honest online, right?" Burt scoffed. "You know better than that! You're smarter than that. You should have known that it wasn't safe to meet up with a random guy from the Internet."

"I can take care of myself!" Blaine snapped, jolting in bed a bit. "I'm quite used to taking care of myself, sir. I've been doing it for a long time. I knew how to handle myself!"

"Blaine, I don't care how old you are or how used to taking care of yourself you are, that wasn't smart!"

"Fine," Blaine huffed. "Maybe I'm just not smart then! After all, I'm the one who told Kurt to go to New York and leave me alone!" Blaine bit his lip and looked out toward the window once more. "Yeah, I'm really smart…"

"What you did for Kurt was—"

"It was what? Good? I know it was good for Kurt. He was drowning in this damn city." Blaine ran his good hand through his messy curls, not caring that it only made them frizzier. "I know how it feels. I hated seeing him that way. I never wanted him to feel that way."

Burt nodded slowly. "Because you knew that feeling."

Blaine finally looked back at Burt, hating the way his throat was suddenly clogging with emotions and how tears were prickly at the back of his eyes.

"Because you still know that feeling," Burt corrected.

"I—"

"How long have you felt that way?"

Blaine bit his lip anxiously. "I don't know."

"Because you've felt this way for too long?"

Blaine wanted nothing more than to run away, but his body wouldn't allow it. He was trapped. "Just stop," Blaine pleaded.

"I'm not leaving this alone."

"Well then, you're the only one," Blaine mumbled, hoping Burt wouldn't hear. But just like with everything else lately, luck wasn't on his side.

"You feel alone," Burt said, casting him with a sad look. "How did I not see it?"

"No offense, Burt, but it wasn't your place to see it," Blaine huffed.

"You can think that all you want, but like I told you in the hospital, I care. So that makes it my place and you're going to have to just get used to it. Because like it or not, I'm not going anywhere."

"Then you're the first," Blaine wearily replied. He wished his mouth would quit moving. He wanted this to be over and to stop saying things like that to Burt.

"Kurt felt the same way about you. Hell, he still does."

"No he doesn't," Blaine gaped. "He wants nothing to do with me!"

"Maybe not right now, but it won't last. I know my kid." Burt sent him a wink. "And I also know that you can't keep bottling things up if you want it to work out with him. You shouldn't do that to yourself. You need to talk to someone."

"But he wouldn't talk to me. He was so busy with his new job and his new life and I—"

"It doesn't have to be Kurt," Burt interrupted, squeezing Blaine's good hand. "It can be me, your brother, your friends, Miss Pillsbury, anyone! You aren't alone and you don't deserve to feel that way. Ok?"

Blaine sniffled and nodded. He'd gotten so used to not relying on others, but the idea of having people there was really nice for a change.

"Good," Burt sighed in relief. "Now, not sure your food is all that hot but you still need to eat something. Don't think I didn't notice how much weight you've lost. I'm going to go make a fresh batch of these and then you are going to eat them."

"Yes, sir," Blaine replied with a small smile. "Wait, don't you have to go into the shop? I can fix myself something. It's no big deal."

"I don't think you could make it down the stairs, bud. And no, I don't have work. I thought I'd take the day off to spend with you."

"But—"

"Finn bought me this really great boxset of OSU's greatest plays. Figured you might like to watch it with me later." Burt sent him one last smile before heading down to the kitchen.

Blaine sagged back against his pillows, that small smile still in place. Maybe things could get better.

~0~

Kurt winced as the front door squeaked when he opened it and the floor creaked under his feet. It was late, and he didn't want to wake anyone. He wanted it to be a surprise in the morning, not a late night scare.

He moved slowly into the old house, being mindful of every loose board and piece of furniture. He just had to deal with the steps and then he'd be safely tucked away in his room until morning.

His own door thankfully wasn't as loud as the front door. He breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the dark room and tossed his bags into the corner. He'd deal with them in the morning. Right now, he just wanted to climb into bed and catch a few hours of sleep.

He toed off his designer boots and traded his skinny jeans for a pair of yoga pants. He tugged off his layers of shirts until he made it to the plain undershirt. With a sigh, he pulled back the covers and slid into his old bed. He started to snuggle into the familiar pillows when his body connected with something…or someone as he soon realized.

Kurt flailed his arms and legs out in his surprise, hitting the person hard and eliciting a pained scream. It only caused Kurt's panic to rise and his flailing to worsen, especially when the sheets became tangled around him and trapped him in the bed.

The overhead lights suddenly came on and his dad started yelling something. But Kurt couldn't make anything out. His focus was now on the person in his bed.

"Blaine?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I apologize for the long wait! Things became crazy with school and the holidays. Hope that this is worth it! Thank you all for the reviews and I apologize for not responding to some of them. I hope to be able to respond to any new ones. I also wanted to thank the guest reviewers! You were so kind. And to the one who basically cussed me out for still liking Blaine, sorry you feel that way but this is how I saw Blaine in the fic.

Chapter 3

Kurt stared with wide eyes, his mouth hanging agape and his hands shaking at his side. He had shoved himself as close to the edge of the bed as he could without falling over. He could tell Burt was still talking behind him, but he couldn't make out the words. His focus remained on Blaine, who was curled up on the other side of the bed still gasping through the pain; everything else was blurry in comparison.

It wasn't until Burt placed a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder that Kurt finally turned away from Blaine. One look at his father's face was all it took for Kurt to completely lose it.

"What the hell is going on, Dad? What—"

"Come on," Burt prodded, pulling Kurt from the bed.

"No! Tell me what's going on!"

"I will," Burt replied. "But not here. Come on!"

Kurt glanced once more at Blaine, who was now surrounded by Sam and Carole. _When did they get here?_

"Kurt, now," Burt instructed, once again gently pulling on Kurt's arm.

Kurt bit his lip and slipped off the bed, allowing Burt to tug him out into the hallway. Once away from his bedroom, he nearly exploded once more.

"Why is Blaine h-here? Why didn't you tell me you were harboring my ex? Dad? What's going on? I—"

"Woah, bud! Can I get a word in to explain? I—"

"Why didn't you tell me Blaine was here? Why did you keep that from me? I don't understand. I thought—"

"Let's go downstairs and I'll explain everything, ok?"

Kurt sent Burt a seething look but shuffled off toward the kitchen nonetheless.

"You want coffee or tea? Anything?" Burt asked once they were in the kitchen.

"Just want answers, Dad," Kurt sighed, plopping down in the nearest chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hey, I know this looks bad but—"

"It looks really bad," Kurt agreed with a bit of a glare. "Why didn't you tell me he was staying here?"

"Honestly?" Burt replied with a weary sigh. "Because everything was crazy making sure he was all right after his surgery and making sure he kept up with his prescriptions. The kid apparently has a thing about not telling ya when he's in pain."

"He thinks he's a burden," Kurt mumbled absently before shaking his head to get the thought out of his mind. He was still mad at Blaine. He was _supposed_ to be mad at Blaine.

"Found that out the hard way," Burt huffed.

"That still doesn't answer my question of why he's here and why you didn't take all of two seconds to send me a text or have Finn call me, for god's sake!"

"Blaine's here because there was no way I was letting him go home by himself after he'd had surgery and everything. His parents are…somewhere." Burt tiredly leaned against the kitchen counter, running a hand over his scruffy chin. He rarely went without shaving and it showed just how exhausting the past few days must have been.

With another sigh, he started speaking once again. "I still haven't figured out what's going on there, but they've apparently been on some second honeymoon slash business trip thing since the beginning of school. And Cooper couldn't get out of filming to come here. He didn't really have a lot of options."

Kurt's glare softened a little, but he was still frustrated and hurt. "You should have called me."

"I know, Kurt." Burt pushed away from the counter and pulled out the chair across from Kurt at the table. "And I'm so sorry I didn't. But I didn't know you were coming home for Thanksgiving. Last I had talked to you, you were staying in New York to watch the parade and do the whole New York thing."

"So you were just planning on never telling me?" Kurt huffed. "Really, Dad?"

"Now I never said that!" Burt's chair scratched roughly against the floor where he had pushed back in his frustration. "You know I wouldn't do that to you! I was planning on telling you. I'm sorry you found out this way, Kurt. I really am. I was just trying to deal with one boy at a time. And in the moment, that meant Blaine first. I never wanted you to get upset. But I couldn't just leave him without help either. You know you would've been just as pissed at me if I had."

Kurt's lips twitched in a glimpse of a smile before he cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. "Maybe," he muttered softly after a few minutes.

"Kurt," Burt continued cautiously, reaching across the table and taking Kurt's hand in his. "Look, the last thing I wanted to do is hurt you. I'm not choosing Blaine's side over yours or anything like that."

"It just looks it," Kurt sighed, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly, just as Burt had done moments ago.

"I'm not. I love both of you boys, but I'd never try to do something like that to you. I just wanted to help him. He screwed up, Kurt. I get that. I'm not happy with him for it either. But that doesn't mean I'm going to quit caring about him either—that I _can_ just quit worrying about him." Burt squeezed Kurt's hand. "I think you can understand that because I'm pretty sure you're feeling exactly the same way."

Kurt bit his lip and stared down at the table; he didn't want Burt to see the tears in his eyes that were threatening to spill. He was sick of caring. He knew he shouldn't care at this point. But he couldn't help it…it was still Blaine.

"Kurt?" Carole said from the doorway. "Your room's all yours, sweetheart."

"Wh-what about Blaine?" he asked, cursing himself for letting his worry show.

Carole smiled knowingly, and he hated it. "Sam and I set him up in Finn's bed. Finn is staying over at Artie's to work on some last minute details for the play. They're trying to figure out what to do for 'Beauty School Dropout' now that Blaine's out of commission for a little while."

"Oh, ok," Kurt mumbled. "I'm going to bed then."

"Kurt I—" Burt started before Kurt interrupted.

"It's fine. I just…I'm tired, Dad. We'll figure it out tomorrow."

Burt nodded with a sigh. "Ok, love you buddy."

"Love you, too." He tried to send him dad a real smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He bid Carole goodnight and quickly headed toward the stairs. He was bone tired between traveling and the surprise of finding Blaine in his bed.

_Blaine…_

He still didn't know what he was going to do with Blaine in the house. He understood why his dad had taken his ex-boyfriend in; of course he did. Hell, Burt was right! Kurt would have been a little mad if they had left Blaine on his own while he was hurt. But that didn't make things any easier. Things weren't going to be easy—Blaine's mistake had made sure of that. And now it seemed that Kurt just had to live with it.

When he reached top of the stairs, Kurt could hear voices coming from Finn's bedroom. He paused near the ajar door so that he could sneak a quick peek. He bit his lip when he saw Blaine laying in Finn's bed with Sam hovering over him. He was extremely pale and, from what Kurt could see, trembling rather violently under the blankets.

Kurt's hands twitched in his desire to pull the door open wide, barge into the room, and take Sam's place at Blaine's bedside. But he couldn't. _He shouldn't._

With a sigh, Kurt shuffled toward his bedroom across the hall. It didn't look as if Carole had had the chance to pick up the mess they had caused earlier. Kurt's bags were knocked over and for once he didn't care about the clothes inside of them getting wrinkled. His sheets were a tangled mess on his bed and it took him a moment to get them sorted enough for him to be able to climb under them. His foot collided with something soft and squishy, making him jump once again.

"What the hell?" He pushed himself back up in the bed and reached down to find whatever he had kicked. His hand came back with Blaine's stuffed Margaret Thatcher dog. The fur was a little more matted than what it had been back when he'd first confiscated it from Finn, but it otherwise looked exactly the same as it had when he had shown up at Blaine's locker in an attempt to cheer him up. Just like Blaine had always tried to cheer him up before…well before everything had gone to hell.

Part of Kurt wanted to throw the dog across the room. Out of sight out of mind. Except nothing about Blaine seemed to work that way. Even when they were thousands of miles apart and not talking, Kurt's mind would drift back to the boy who had stolen his heart on a staircase.

Instead, Kurt tucked the dog against his chest, breathing in Blaine's lingering scent, and fell into a fitful sleep.

~0~

Blaine didn't want to move. Everything hurt and moving only made it worse. But not being able to move meant that he was forced to lie as still as possible while his mind raced with thoughts of Kurt—Kurt who had come home after all and had found him in his bedroom. Kurt, who was still mad and wanted nothing to do with him.

"Dude? You ok?"

Blaine tilted his head as he felt the bed dip beside him. Sam sat as far from Blaine as possible on the bed, biting his lip and looking at Blaine worriedly.

"I'm fine," Blaine croaked. He tried to push himself up in the bed so that he wasn't as slumped over the pillows, but he ended up falling back against them with a wince. The night's events had taken quite the toll and even his good arm felt weak at this point.

"Can you please not lie to me?" Sam sighed. He reached over to take Blaine's hand and placed a few pills into his palm. "Take those so you'll stop hurting. And please quit lying about when you're in pain. Burt warned me you'd do that. So can you please stop?"

Blaine bit his lip but took the pills nonetheless. He leaned back against the pillows again and tried to ignore the continued worried glances that Sam, who was still on the bed, was sending him. After a few minutes, the medicine still hadn't kicked in and Sam was still staring at him. "Sam," Blaine huffed, "what?"

"Dude, are you ever going to tell me what's going on? I mean, I thought we were friends now and all that."

"Sam I'm fine. I—"

"No, you're not!" Sam all but snapped. "And you haven't been since you and Kurt broke up!"

Blaine jerked at the outburst, wincing as his ribs twinged with pain.

"Sorry," Sam apologized sheepishly. "I'm just worried and tired of you hiding whatever is wrong, man. "

"What makes you think something is wrong?" Blaine mumbled in one final attempt to deflect.

Sam shifted on the bed, pulling his legs up but never looking away from Blaine. "Dude, I'm not blind."

Blaine scoffed. "Well, you're the only one then." He spoke softly, hoping Sam wouldn't hear.

Sam continued on as if he hadn't heard the slip, much to Blaine's relief. "It's just, it's obvious that something is wrong. I know that break ups are hard but you can't keep beating yourself up!"

"Sam, please just—"

"It happens and it sucks. But you can't keep doing this. What could you have done that is making you want to punish yourself like this?" Sam waved his arms around frantically, nearly falling off the bed in the process. "And don't say that you're not because you are! Don't think I forgot you saying you haven't been sleeping and eating much. I can also see you distancing yourself. I mean, you turned down the lead in the play, man! This needs to stop."

"It isn't that easy, Sam," Blaine murmered, rubbing at his eyes tiredly with his good hand. "I screwed up and I can't just—"

"Dude, what could make you think putting yourself through hell was ok?"

"I cheated on Kurt!" Blaine snapped. As soon as he realized what he had said, he sagged against the pillows and covered his face with his good arm. He could feel Sam shifting anxiously on the bed beside him.

"Go on, say it; I know you have something to say. Kurt told me all about what happened with you and Quinn last year, so just say it. I know I'm an awful person for doing it. And I—"

"No, you're not," Sam interrupted. Blaine heard him sigh and felt the bed move once again. He assumed Sam was getting up to leave, but then he felt his friend bump shoulders with him as he lay against the spare pillows.

"Sam—"

"No, seriously!" Sam cut him off. "I mean, cheating is wrong. But, like, there isn't just one type of cheating."

"Pretty sure cheating is cheating. Doesn't matter what you actually do with the other person." Blaine felt his face redden but he moved his arm so that he could finally look toward Sam.

The other boy rolled his eyes at Blaine before speaking once more. "That's not what I meant." He squeezed Blaine's knee and pulled the blankets that had slipped down earlier around him, obviously being mindful of Blaine's injuries. "What I mean is…" He paused, visibly searching for the right words. "Why did you do it? Why did you cheat?"

"I don't know…"

"No," Sam cut in, shaking his head. "There had to be something that made you do it. So what was it? Did you want to feel good? Have a good time with someone else since Kurt was away? Need to have someone-"

"God, no! It wasn't anything like that!"

"Then what was it?" Sam asked patiently.

Blaine squeezed his eyes shut as memories of that night started to hit him one by one. Seeing Eli's flirty message on Facebook. Going to his apartment. Undressing. The feeling of hands all over him…the feeling of wrongness.

"I just wanted to not be alone." He sagged against the pillows, swallowing thickly. "It felt like Kurt was moving on with this perfect new life and that I just didn't fit into it. Why would I?" He squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears from slipping out. "He was in the greatest city ever with all these amazing people and I'm just some kid from Ohio."

"Blaine, you know that's not what Kurt was doing."

Blaine shook his head. "It felt it. I know he wasn't trying to make me feel like that. But he was just so busy and I hated it. So I started talking with this guy on Facebook and things got so out of control." Once he had started talking, Blaine couldn't stop. He'd kept everything bottled up for far too long. "Then I hated that too! And you know why?"

Sam blinked at the sudden onslaught of confessions but remained silent.

"Because the second I did it, I knew Kurt was it for me and that I had probably ruined the greatest thing I had in my life. He's my soul mate and I cheated on him! If that doesn't make me an awful person, Sam, I'm not sure what does."

Sam bit his lip and he reached for Blaine's good hand, stopping him from rolling onto his injured side. He squeezed it once. "I still don't think you're an awful person."

Blaine shot him a disbelieving look.

"Dude, you know I have experience with cheating. I'm like a freaking expert by now." He smiled sadly. "Quinn cheated on me because she wanted to feel good and wanted to still have the perfect image she thought she had with me. Mercedes cheated on her boyfriend with me because she wasn't completely happy and didn't know how to tell him."

Blaine was sick of all the talk of cheating. He knew it happened and that most of his classmates had done it. He just never thought he'd be one of them. It made him sick. "Sam…"

"And Santana?" Sam continued as thought Blaine hadn't spoken. "She kind of cheated on me with Brittany a couple of times. And that was because she couldn't be honest with herself or me. I had an old girlfriend cheat on me because I had chosen to go out with the boys instead of her and she was pissed off at me."

"Sam, I don't understand."

"I'm saying, not everyone cheats for the same reason. And sometimes the reasons actually matter. Should you have gone out with that guy? No! I'm not saying that. But, I mean, you weren't with him because you wanted to just sleep with someone to feel good or because you were pissed at Kurt. You were lonely and didn't know how to react."

Blaine shook his head sadly. "That still doesn't change what I did."

"Nah, it doesn't. But I think it can help. If you, like, talk to Kurt about it." Sam tilted his head a little and smiled sadly.

"You don't think I've tried?"

Sam held up his hands in surrender. "Blaine—"

"Because I have!"

"Blaine, calm down."

"I've texted, called, Facebooked. Hell, I even wrote letters! But he ignored everything. I can't tell him any of that if he won't accept any of that," Blaine continued, wincing as he jarred his injuries.

"Seriously, calm down before you hurt yourself."

Blaine sighed and tried to listen to Sam. His outburst had hurt, but he needed to let it out. "I don't know what else I can do. I've tried everything."

Sam nudged Blaine's shoulder gently. "Then you wait him out. Give him time to stop hurting and let him come to you." Sam ran a hand through his messy hair. "But in the mean time I think you should maybe start finding a way to forgive yourself. It might help things if you did, man."

Blaine bit his lip and carefully shifted against the pillows and Sam's shoulder. "But what if he never comes to me?" he whispered, his eyes filling with tears once more at the thought.

"He will. Trust me." Sam sent Blaine a wink and hopped off the bed. He walked across the room and started to mess with the TV and DVD player.

"You don't know that he will," Blaine sighed, waving his good arm around tiredly.

"I do," Sam disagreed, glancing back from the TV. "Like you said, you two are soul mates. I may not know much, but pretty sure that means you two are supposed to be together for the long haul." Sam shrugged, put a DVD in, and climbed back onto Finn's bed with the remote in hand. "So it will happen. Don't know when, but it will."

Blaine stared up at Sam, blinking at his friend. He opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it again as he tried to find the right words. He felt utterly drained and his medicine was finally started to kick in, making the words resonate more than usual. "That's…incredibly insightful."

Sam knit his brows in confusion. "That's good, right?"

"Yeah," Blaine replied with a genuine, if tired, smile. "It's perfect. Thanks, Sam."

Sam returned the smile with his own broad goofy grin. "Awesome!" Sam clicked the menu button on the remote and the Avengers logo popped up on the screen. "Figured we could watch some of this while you waited for your meds to kick in so you can go back to sleep. It's not like you'll miss anything; know for a fact you had to have seen this like a million times already."

Blaine snorted, eyes already starting to droop. "And you haven't?"

Sam replied by shushing him as the action started. Blaine sighed but couldn't help but smile as he settled more comfortably into the bed. Despite the gun fire and destruction going on with the superheroes, and Sam's incessant quoting, Blaine found himself drifting off, his body slumping against Sam's side in his exhaustion. He couldn't remember the last time he'd voluntarily been this close to another person.

He barely registered Sam tugging the blankets around him and adjusting the pillow near his bad arm before he gave in to the exhaustion.

~0~

The front door creaking open and slamming shut woke Kurt from his restless sleep the following morning. He groaned as he heard movement downstairs, the unmistakable sound of his clumsy stepbrother rooting around in the kitchen while Carole chastised him. There were other sounds from the Finn's bedroom where Sam and Blaine were no doubt waking as well.

After everything that had happened, Kurt had no desire to join anyone. Not yet.

Instead, he pulled the blankets tighter around himself and curled into his fluffy pillows. The sun was streaming through the cracks in the blinds; he turned away from the ligh as much as possible, but there was no way he could go back to sleep now…not with the noises, the light, and all the thoughts already forming in his mind. But that didn't mean he planned on getting out of bed just yet.

He wasn't sure what he would say to his dad at this point or how in the hell he'd react to Blaine. While Burt had good intentions, and Kurt was glad he was able to help Blaine when he needed it, it still stung to have been kept in the dark while it all happened. And Blaine… Well he still didn't know how he felt about him right now.

Blaine had hurt him—something he hadn't expected by a long shot. It would take time to deal with and move past. Yet he still loved Blaine. He still saw the other boy as his best friend and it killed him to ignore the phone calls every time his cell rang. They were so much more than two teenagers hooking up, and it stung so much to know that Blaine had done that with someone other random boy.

Lost in thought once again, Kurt didn't notice the knock on his door or the creaking of the old hinges. In fact, he wasn't even aware someone had come into his room until his arm was being rubbed.

"Sweetheart?"

Kurt kept his eyes closed, hoping Carole would think he was still asleep and leave.

"Kurt, I know you're awake. You may be a great actor, but I've dealt with people faking sleep for quite a while between Finn and the hospital."

Kurt groaned and opened his eyes with a frown. "How'd you know?"

"Can't give away my secrets," she replied with a wink. She resumed rubbing at his arm, turning more serious. "How are you this morning? And be honest. You're allowed to be upset."

"That's good, because I still am," Kurt sighed.

"I know your dad messed up but—"

"No, it isn't really that. I mean, I'm still mad that he didn't tell me, but I'm not mad that he helped Blaine. It's…complicated."

"Love always seems to be." Kurt instantly tensed under her hand. "Sorry! I shouldn't have said that," Carole apologized, squeezing him arm.

Kurt sighed once more and pushed himself up in the bed, pulling his knees towards his chest as he sat. "Am I that obvious?"

Carole smiled sadly. "I wouldn't say that you were too obvious. But I know it's hard to throw away love for someone, even when they hurt you terribly. I've been there. Sometimes there is no coming back from it. Other times, you can work through it."

"I don't know that we can," Kurt all but whispered, looking down at his blanket.

"And you may not be able to." Carole reached over to Kurt and pushed a stray strand of hair back into place. "You two will figure it out. And your dad and I will be there no matter what you decide. I hope you know that."

Kurt smiled a little, despite the warring feelings their conversation brought back. "I know. Thank you, Carole."

Carole pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly for a few minutes. "Now," she said, releasing him, "why don't you come down and eat breakfast before your dad starts panicking even more than he already has."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at that.

"He's convinced himself that you are going to stay up in your room for your entire visit and refuse to talk to him."

"I'm really not that mad."

"I know, honey, but he feels really bad that he didn't talk to you before."

Kurt nodded. "I'll come down. But, I can't promise that I'll stay long."

"That's perfectly fine." Carole patted his shoulder and stood up from the bed. "Did I mention I made those crepes you adore?"

"But Dad—"

"Isn't allowed to have any. I know. That's why he's eating cereal and the crepes are for you boys." She winked at him and headed out of the room.

Kurt continued to sit on his bed in the same position. He knew he couldn't avoid everyone the whole week, even if it was tempting. He huffed to himself but finally threw the covers off his legs and climbed out of bed. His body felt tired and stiff from the tense sleep and stress. Not even stretching helped.

He glanced in the mirror. His face was still splotchy and red, so he did a shortened version of his normal skin care regimen in the hope of masking the fact that he had been an emotional wreck once he'd made it to his bedroom the night before. He then grabbed a hoodie and walked downstairs toward the kitchen.

Once there, he sent another thankful smile toward Carole. She pointed at the plate between Burt and Finn, indicating for him to head over and eat. He was happy she had moved his place at the table away from Blaine's normal spot. On the way to his seat, he rubbed his dad's back, hoping to show that they were still on good terms.

Just as Kurt had started to relax and enjoy his food, Blaine appeared in the hall across from the kitchen, moving slowly and stiffly. Sam was at his side, keeping his arm around Blaine to ensure that he didn't fall if he stumbled. He was muttering something to Blaine that Kurt couldn't hear, but whatever it was seemed to put the boy more at ease as he walked. Blaine fumbled a bit on the step down into the kitchen. Kurt started to stand to rush towards him, but Sam was right there steadying him and helping him into a chair.

"You ok, man?" Sam asked, rubbing Blaine's back soothingly as he caught his breath and relaxed into the wooden chair.

"Yeah," Blaine mumbled. "I'm fine." He glanced towards Kurt. Their gaze met for a moment before both quickly looked down at their plates. Blaine pushed his food around on his plate and sloppily cut into the crepes. It was obvious that it was hard for him to do and Sam kept offering to help. After his plate slid and he nearly knocked his food onto the table, Blaine relented and allowed Sam to help cut the food more neatly. Kurt tried to appear as if he wasn't watching, but it was hard .

Kurt felt uneasy yet couldn't look away. He knew he should be glad that Blaine was allowing Sam to help him, but he didn't like seeing it. He couldn't help but wish he was the one there. He didn't know how to feel about that.

When Kurt did look back up at Blaine, his ex's face was blood red with embarrassment. After that, Kurt simply excused himself from the table, not caring that he had only eaten half of his breakfast. He wasn't hungry anyway and he hated seeing Blaine like that. He needed to get out.

But he didn't find solace in the house. With Finn having returned from Artie's, Blaine had relocated once more to the family room couch, despite Burt's protests that he would hurt himself on the thing. And Sam was never far from his friend. He seemed comforting and sweet, yet it still grated on Kurt's last nerve. He couldn't stand seeing Sam fuss over his ex, checking that he took his medicine, fluffing pillows every few minutes, and tugging up blankets. It caused his chest to ache and he couldn't take it for very long.

For that reason, he ended up mentally going through nearly every friend he had left in Lima trying to find a way out of the house. The guys were all out of the question; most were closer to Blaine and it would just remind him all the more of his problems. Rachel had already left with her dads to go visit her grandmother for the holiday. Mercedes flight from L.A. had been delayed thanks to some storm. And while he loved Brittany to death, he just wasn't sure he could handle her at the moment.

So that left Tina, who thankfully wanted something to occupy her time so she wouldn't obsess over the fact that Mike was also in town to visit his parents. They agreed to meet up at the mall for some retail therapy and deliciously unhealthy soft pretzels. It was great at first. The two fell into old habits of compliments and critiques like they had never been separated by so many of mile. They talked about Kurt's new internship and what schools Tina was interested in applying to. It was great.

Then Tina had to go and ask about Blaine…

"I know you probably don't want to talk about him, but he hasn't been returning any of my texts and I just want to know how he's doing?"

Kurt paused mid bite and blinked up at her.

"I'm sorry! But I just wanted—"

"He's fine," Kurt mumbled before returning to his pretzel.

"Really?" Tina asked unsurely. "Because he really didn't look like he'd be fine for awhile. Not after the way he fell. It was pretty bad. He was in so much pain."

"I said he was fine." Kurt ripped a few pieces off of his napkin, avoiding Tina's gaze. He didn't want to talk about Blaine and how he was doing. He had left the house to avoid. That was the whole point of this.

Tina sighed loudly and reached across the table to pull Kurt's hand away from his mutilating his napkin and into hers. "You know I get it. It's hard being around your ex. When Mike was at McKinley I—"

"No you don't know," Kurt snapped, pulling his hand away from hers and crossing his arms over his chest. He sunk back against the hard plastic of the chair and tried not to meet her gaze.

"Kurt, I'm sorry that I brought it up! But he's my friend and I just wanted to know if he was ok."

"Well I answered you," Kurt muttered, biting his lip and shrinking into himself even more.

Tina furrowed her brow. "Look, you don't have to get mad! I didn't bite your head off every time you or Rachel asked about Mike."

"Well Mike didn't cheat on you," Kurt hissed. His eyes widened as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He hadn't planned on telling anyone that.

"What?" Tina gasped, eyes wide. "Kurt? Did Blaine…did he…" She waved her hand to get her point across, not quite able to actually say the words.

Kurt bit his lip once more and nodded ever so slightly.

"Kurt—"

"Just don't," Kurt interrupted, bolting up in his seat. "You don't know what it's like and I don't want to hear it." Kurt grabbed the remains of his pretzel and shredded napkins, standing hastily and going over to the nearby trashcan. He didn't want to talk about this anymore!. Rachel had tried it already back in New York, much to his dismay. All he wanted was to be home and not think about Blaine…and that was turning out to be impossible.

Kurt startled when Tina came up behind him and squeezed his shoulder. "Come on," she said softly, pulling him off toward one of the more deserted halls. She pushed him onto a bench then sat down beside him.

Kurt shook his head frustrated. "Tina this isn't going to help. I—"

"You know, I may not have been cheated on but I have cheated."

"Tina, please," Kurt begged. He ran a hand through his usually perfect hair, mussing some of the strands.

She reached over and smoothed it back down, letting her hand fall against his neck afterwards. "I would never say that what Blaine did was ok. But that doesn't mean that you have to hate him for the rest of your life. Because trust me, no one could hate him more than he hates himself."

Kurt squirmed in his seat but didn't respond. It was more than obvious that all of this was making him anxious and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, Tina pressed on.

"Kurt, I cheated on Artie and I felt horrible. And you know what?" She smiled sadly at him. "We didn't have anywhere near the same relationship as you and Blaine."

"So what? I'm supposed to just forgive and forget? I've tried and—"

"I'm not saying that." Tina held her hands up in surrender.

"But I am," Kurt continued, twisting so that he faced her. "He was with someone else! I can't just move on from that."

"But didn't Blaine?"

"Excuse me?" Kurt gasped, eyes narrowed in confusion. "I never cheated on Blaine!"

Tina sighed and turned on the bench as well. She squeezed Kurt's knee, but he would not calm. "That song last year during Whitney week and what Mike said when he talked to Blaine back then say different."

Kurt's normally pale face reddened. "I didn't sleep with anyone else!" Kurt tried to stand from the bench but Tina grabbed his arm and pulled him back against her side. "Please, I—"

"Kurt, I was cheating on Artie the minute I started to feel that connection to Mike. It may not have been sex, but you can still cheat with all the emotional stuff too. I'm not saying it's the same or anything like that, but I'm just saying that what you did wasn't all that innocent."

Kurt didn't respond or look up at Tina. He wanted this conversation to end and to stop thinking about everything that had happened.

"I know it's hard. And I'm not saying that Blaine is innocent! But I don't think you have to hate him for the rest of your life, no matter how hard you try."

And that was the problem. Kurt had tried so hard to hate Blaine. But it never worked, not like he thought it would. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "That's the problem," he muttered.

"Kurt?"

He leaned forward and hung his head, running his hand through his hair again. "I've tried for weeks to hate him. But I can't. He's still Blaine."

"Oh, Kurt."

"I'm supposed to hate him."

Tina pulled his hand away from his hair and squeezed it softly. "Says who? Who says you are supposed to hate him? He made a mistake... Granted, it was a huge one. But that doesn't mean you never forgive or move on from it."

"How can I do that when I can't trust him? You can't have a healthy relationship without trust."

"No," Tina said sadly. "But you can build it back up and see what happens."

Kurt bit his lip. "What if it happens again?"

Tina squeezed his hand and pulled him against her side so she could hug him. "Then, as much as I love him, you can sic Mercedes and Rachel or one of the guys on him and let them do their worst."

Kurt huffed out a laugh and wiped at his face. He then returned the hug. "Thank you."

She smiled at him. "Now, what do you say we go see if we can't hunt down some new boots already marked down?"

Kurt nodded and allowed himself to be led towards the stores once again. He still felt weighted down by everything that had happened, but he didn't feel like he was sinking with it. Maybe things could get better…eventually.

~0~

"Ahh!" Blaine cried out as he jolted awake from his latest nightmare. He'd been having them on and off ever since his night with Eli. They involved everything from images of that night to various rejections from Kurt. Sometimes they were of the night in New York and sometimes they were more twisted versions his subconscious decided to taunt him with. Tonight was one of those nights.

Those nights always led to him twisted and turning in his bed, nearly falling over the side and sweating profusely. Tonight was no different. Only this time he thrashed to the point of tumbling over the edge. He had stubbornly refused to take anyone's bed for the night and had stayed on the couch. He now cursed that decision since he had fallen directly onto his injured arm.

Blaine sighed and pressed his forehead into the soft carpet, trying to suppress a moan of pain. He didn't want to wake the whole house up. The Hudmels had done so much for him already, and he was sick of constantly needing help. He could do this. He just had to figure out the best way to angle his upper body and push up without putting more pressure on his arm.

"Blaine?"

Blaine's good arm gave out as he startled, sending him crashing face first into the carpet once more. He groaned into the floor and wanted nothing more than for it to swallow him whole. Of course Kurt had to come downstairs. Of course it would be him. It was always him.

Blaine jumped again as he felt a hand on his shoulder and jerked away from the touch at first.

"Sorry," Kurt snapped. "I'm just trying to help you."

Blaine sighed. "No, I'm sorry." He bit his lip. "I-I could use the help."

Kurt bit his lip as well and nodded. He gently helped Blaine back onto the couch. He immediately slumped against the cushions with a slight moan as his arm protested. "Thank you," he said breathily.

Kurt nodded again, shifting nervously on his feet. He looked towards the kitchen as if he longed to be away from Blaine.

"You can go," Blaine continued softly. "I know you didn't come down to check on me. Go do whatever you needed." Blaine moved carefully on the couch, trying to lie back down but only ending up wincing as his arm flared with pain. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch, hoping it would lessen. When he opened them seconds later, Kurt was already gone.

"Should've expected that," he muttered to himself.

"Should've expected what?" Kurt asked, suddenly back at Blaine's side, forcing pills and a glass of water into his hands.

Blaine stared at Kurt, blinking in his confusion. "Huh?" he sputtered dumbfounded.

Kurt sighed. "Never mind. Just…here." Kurt nudged Blaine's hand. "Take those. God only knows how much damage you did just now. What were you doing on the floor anyway?" A hint of worry crept into Kurt's voice and it eased Blaine's nerves slightly.

At least until he remembered the reason he was on the floor…

"Oh," Blaine muttered, biting his lip again. It was a wonder he didn't have puncture marks in the flesh. "Um, n-nightmare. Fell over the side of the couch."

Kurt's eyes widened and his hands fluttered a little at Blaine's side as if they wanted to touch but couldn't. "M-Maybe—I think we should maybe talk," Kurt said softly.

Blaine felt panic bubble in his chest. "No, it's fine. I know you didn't come down to check on me. I'm fine. You can go back upstairs and—"

"I heard moaning." Kurt finally moved his hand away from Blaine's side and rubbed at his neck sheepishly before pointing towards the ceiling. "My bed's right above here."

Blaine blushed. "I'm sorry I woke you."

Kurt huffed. "Wasn't really sleeping anyway." He shifted and reluctantly took a seat next to Blaine. "Which is why I think we should talk."

"Kurt, I promise I'm fine. It was just a stupid dream and—"

"It was about the break up, right? Or something to do with the break up?'

"Kurt—"

"I know you. You dwell on things until they're all you think about, even when you sleep. It was always something we had in common." Kurt laughed self-deprecatingly and looked away.

Blaine brow knit in confusion. "Wait…you've had nightmares too?"

"Don't sound so shocked. Not like you were the only one who had bad memories to dwell on."

"I didn't mean it like that," Blaine quickly responded. "I just—"

"I know you didn't. Sorry," Kurt sighed. He leaned his head against the back of the couch.

"Kurt, you really don't have to stay down here. It's pretty obvious you'd rather not be around me. And that's fine." Blaine's voice cracked on the words and he had to pause to clear his throat. "I wouldn't want to either. And I'm sorry you have to deal with me here. I didn't want you to."

Blaine finally looked back at Kurt to see him shaking his head vigorously. "No one seems to get that that isn't the problem. I _do _want to be around you. It hurts to be around you so much but it hurts to not be around you. I don't…God this is so messed up!"

Blaine deflated almost instantly. "I know I've messed everything up. And I can't begin to say how sorry I am about it all. I did this. I—"

"You weren't the only one who messed up, Blaine," Kurt interrupted.

Blaine reeled from the comment, not sure how to take that. "Kurt, you didn't—"

"No, I didn't do what you did," Kurt agreed wholeheartedly. "I am just saying we both messed up. Some more than others."

Blaine snorted but Kurt shook his head.

"Stop…can we just talk?"

Blaine chewed nervously on his lower lip.

"Can we actually talk?" Kurt repeated. "Both of us. Not just you with me snapping. And not just me with you not getting your own thoughts out. We can't keep doing that."

"We're pretty good at doing that, aren't we?" Blaine finally said.

It was Kurt's turn to snort. "Seems that way."

The two fell into silence for a few minutes before Blaine got the courage to say anything. "I'm sorry."

Kurt nodded. "I know. Pretty sure I knew as soon as you told me."

Blaine's eyes watered a little at the admission. "I never meant to go through with it. It was never my intention to do anything. I don't know if that helps." Blaine didn't dare look up at Kurt while he spoke.

"It really doesn't," Kurt sighed. "It still happened."

"Yeah." Blaine ran a hand over his face with a groan. "And it never should've."

"That's something we can agree on." Kurt's knee started to bounce. "I just…I just don't understand it. Why? Why did you do it? Why do that to me?"

"I don't know," Blaine replied brokenly. He knew that wasn't completely true, yet he still wasn't sure how to voice that to Kurt. He had been able to say some of it to Sam the night before, but this was Kurt and it meant so much more.

"You have to! You have to have had a reason, Blaine! People don't just give up on a good thing and—"

"I didn't! I wasn't the one who gave up!" Blaine's eyes widened as he realized what he said and he deflated against the couch. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No," Kurt argued. "Say what you think. I'm tired of us just keeping our mouths shut because we don't want to bring something hurtful up. We didn't used to do that, you know? Back before we dated…we said anything and everything to each other. We didn't shy away from anything. I called you out on things, and you did the same for me. When did that stop?"

Blaine swallowed down his anxiety and turned back toward Kurt. "I don't know."

"I had thought we had said we wouldn't keep doing that after last year. After the whole Chandler thing. We promised we'd talk and not do something we'd regret like that again."

"Kurt, I did try to talk to you." Kurt opened his mouth to say something in return but Blaine held up his hand. "I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying that I did try to talk to you. You were so caught up in work and your new life. And you always wanted to talk about it. But you never wanted to talk about anything else. Or when I tried you were too busy and I couldn't get the words out. It doesn't excuse what I did but…I was just so tired of everything. I always get ignored and I just never expected it to be from you."

Kurt nodded and looked Blaine up and down. He took a few minutes, apparently letting the words sink in fully. His face looked pained, and Blaine wondered if he was remembering all the missed called and cancelled Skype dates. "You were lonely." Blaine looked away. "And I didn't notice." With a shaking hand, Kurt reached over and squeezed Blaine's. "And while it doesn't excuse what you did, it explains why. Which is what I wanted."

Silence fell over them once again. Kurt's knee continued to bounce while Blaine's hands shook. But Kurt still hadn't let go of it.

"So where does that leave us?" Blaine reluctantly asked after awhile, no longer able to take the quiet. "Do we go back to where we were? Not talking? You ignoring my calls and me going on like it doesn't matter?"

"No," Kurt answered with a trembling voice. "I-I can't keep doing that either. I don't…we can't just go back to where we were. It wasn't working and we don't trust each other, not like we should. And don't argue that! You know if we jumped right back into everything you wouldn't trust me to not get caught up in everything all over again."

"And you wouldn't trust me not to jump another guy. Got it," Blaine snapped.

"I didn't say that! I just…I'm saying we still need time, but I can't do this! I can't do this. I can't _not_ talk to you. I've been trying and I can't stand it. I miss you like crazy and I want my best friend back!"

Blaine's tightened in grip on Kurt's hand in surprise. "Best friend?"

Kurt sniffled and laughed nervously. "You never stopped being my best friend. Even when I tried to hate you. I couldn't. You're still you and I just…"

"Kurt—"

"Let me finish," Kurt choked out. "I'm still mad at you and I still need time. But I can't keep ignoring you. We need time. But that doesn't mean I'm cutting you out. I can't do that again."

Blaine let a few tears roll down his cheek. "You really mean that?" Kurt nodded, letting a few tears of his own slide down his face.

They both settled back into silence, only this time it wasn't as awkward or strained. They weren't fixed; they wouldn't be for a while. But it was a start. It was better than either could've expected and they would take it.

Blaine tried to stifle the yawn that snuck up on him, not wanting to ruin the moment. But his meds had kicked in during the quiet and his exhaustion was making itself known once more. "Sorry," he mumbled around it. "You know I'm a lightweight with meds like that."

Kurt snorted. "Yes, I remember you nearly divulging our sex life to my dad after your eye surgery."

"Don't remind me!" Blaine groaned with a smile. Another yawn snuck out on him.

Kurt tugged on Blaine's hand, urging him to lie back down. "Get some sleep. I'll make sure you don't roll off again."

"Kurt you don't—"

"I'm not letting you fall and undo what the doctors did for your arm already." He tugged on Blaine again and got him to stretch out on the couch. Kurt remained on the other side, but near just in case.

"Thank you," Blaine said. It wasn't just a thanks for the moment, but for everything. The last thing Blaine saw before he finally succumbed to sleep was a soft smile from Kurt.

~0~

A few hours later, when Burt crept down the stairs to check in on Blaine, the boys had somehow curled up together on the small space, fast asleep. The blankets had been pushed down, and it was easy to see how their limbs were entwined around the others.

Burt chuckled to himself and grabbed a blanket that had fallen to the floor. He covered his boys up, smiling all the while.

And in the morning, he didn't mention it to either of them, nor did he comment on the way that they sat beside each other at breakfast. It was a striking difference compared to the previous day when the two had barely looked at each other without grimacing. He counted it as a small win. A step in the right directions for his boys.

~0~

"Finn, calm down!"

Blaine and Sam winced as Kurt's voice carried down from upstairs while Carole and Burt shook their heads fondly.

"But Kurt—" they heard Finn start only to be interrupted with a loud groan from Kurt.

"Are they going to be all night?" Sam sighed.

Burt snorted. "Kurt just wants to make sure that Finn looks good and Finn is kind of freaking out—" A loud crash echoed down the stairs. "—about everything I guess," Burt finished.

Blaine bit his lip to hide a smile as Kurt came into the room muttering about Finn. But he couldn't hide the smile that came on his face when he saw how impeccably dressed Kurt was. He tugged nervously on his sweater sleeves. His clothes paled in comparison, more so than normal, thanks to the bulky bandages that prevented him from wearing anything tight.

That didn't seem to matter much once Kurt sat next to him to wait on Finn. Blaine just relaxed into the couch once again. Since they'd talked a few nights ago, things were getting better. They'd both been able to admit their faults and say what they wanted to the other. It hadn't been easy, but it had helped. They weren't back together, and neither knew if or when that would ever happen. But it was still a possibility, something Blaine hadn't thought the week before.

Kurt still needed time, and if Blaine was brutally honest with himself, so did he. They needed to know that they would make good on their promises rather than fall back into the old habits that led them to where they were. Blaine needed to know that Kurt wouldn't allow himself to get caught up in his own things and forget to listen to Blaine. And Kurt needed to know that Blaine wouldn't bottle things up until he exploded and did something regrettable. They needed to be friends again and build back their trust. It was so much more than Blaine had expected and he would hold onto that hope for as long as possible.

Blaine was drawn out of his thoughts when Kurt's knee bumped his gently. "You sure you want to come tonight? You know everyone will understand if you don't feel up to it?"

"I know," Blaine replied, nudging Kurt's knee as well. He was reluctant to initiate any type of touching unless Kurt had already done so. "But I feel better than I did. My arm is still sore, nothing major. I promise. Besides, I really want to be there to support everybody, especially Finn. Hate that he has to do both Teen Angel and directing because of me."

"Dude, stop that," Finn chastised as he came up behind the couch, startling Blaine, who hadn't heard him come into the room. "It's not like you meant to get hurt. Don't sweat it."

Blaine sent him a small smile of thanks.

"We better head out, boys," Carole stated, standing from her chair and grabbing her coat.

"Yeah, we promised everyone we'd swing backstage before the show started," Kurt replied. He pushed himself up off the couch and turned toward Blaine. "Come on." He gently pulled Blaine up, steadying him when he lost his balance.

"Thank you," Blaine muttered. Part of him wanted nothing more than to stay there against Kurt's side, relishing the fact that they could do that without it being awkward. But Sam started bouncing around doing his Kenickie imitations and getting into character.

"We better go," Kurt said, clearing his throat and patting Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine nodded, not sure if he trusted his voice yet. He remained silent as Kurt guided him out to the car. They rode with Carole and Burt while Sam and Finn went on ahead to finish getting ready backstage. Kurt seemed much more relaxed, humming along with the radio and teasing his dad. Blaine enjoyed the comfort of it all.

It wouldn't last. He knew that. Kurt would have to leave to go back to New York in a few days and he would be heading back to his mostly empty house once his arm healed up some more. This peace wouldn't last, but that didn't mean things would all go back to the way they were before. This time would be different. He had to hope that things would be different.

It didn't seem like he was the only one who noticed the change. Everyone backstage seemed to be watching them, surprised to see them beside each other. Well, everyone except for Tina who kept sending them knowing smiles and the occasional thumbs up. It was a nice change.

Sitting in the audience, watching the lights dim, listening to the music begin, and having Kurt next to him, Blaine felt more at home than he had in weeks. And when Kurt reached over to slide his hand into Blaine's, Blaine breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't realized he'd been holding in.

There was still a lot to work out, and it wouldn't be easy. But it was a start, and Blaine would take it.

* * *

Thank you all again! I've been blown away by the response this fic got and I love you guys so much for it!


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